KARACHI: A first case of coronavirus was reported in Balochistan on Tuesday, taking the confirmed number of cases in the country to 19, officials said.
“The patient is a 12-year-old child who returned from Iran on February 29. He was quarantined and started showing the symptoms after which he was tested for the virus,” director general of health Balochistan Dr Faheem Khan told Arab News, adding that the patient has been shifted to the isolation ward after being tested positive.
“The patient is stable and now being treated in the isolation,” he said.
On Sunday, Pakistan reopened its land border with Iran, after a two-week closure as part of virus containment efforts, when numbers of infected and fatalities from the virus in Iran skyrocketed. On the same day, Iran reported 49 deaths in 24 hours — the highest country death toll in a single day recorded since the virus outbreak.
Several measures have been taken by Pakistan to limit the spread of the disease, with isolation units set up in the southwestern province of Balochistan to screen people returning from Iran.
Those testing positive for the virus are then placed under quarantine for a period of two weeks.
