Pakistan to stop Iran, Afghanistan border movement over new COVID-19 variant fears

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday said it would cease the movement of people entering on foot from Iran and Afghanistan to restrain the import of any new COVID-19 mutations to the country.
Last week, the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi announced that in a genomic study of coronavirus samples it had detected highly infectious new variants of the coronavirus that emerged in Brazil and South Africa, confirming that the mutations were already present in the country, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading rapidly in Pakistan.
National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s pandemic response, announced that the inbound pedestrian movement from Iran and Afghanistan would stop on May 5. Pakistani nationals returning to the country will be exempt from the ban.
“Inbound pedestrian movement would cease with effect from mid night 4/5 May (0001 PST) with exception to Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan and Iran desirous to return and extreme medical emergency cases etc,” the NCOC said in a statement.
All outbound pedestrian movement is still allowed, and the new measures will not affect the existing cargo movement, with drivers obliged to undergo thermal scanning at border terminals.
Pakistan is imposing stricter travel regulations as it is facing a surge in coronavirus cases.
On Friday, the NCOC announced it would reduce from May 5 to May 20 the number of inbound international flights to 20 percent.
The country recorded 4,414 new cases and 113 virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours.
At least 5,448 COVID-19 patients are in critical condition — the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic in February last year.