PESHAWAR: At least 42 people arriving from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain tested positive for COVID-19 after reaching the Peshawar airport on Thursday, authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province told Arab News.
The infection was confirmed in passengers of three flights coming from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to Bacha Khan International Airport authorities.
“A total of 42 passengers, mostly from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, arrived here with coronavirus symptoms,” Bilal Faizi, a Rescue 1122 spokesperson, said. “These people belong to Swat, Peshawar, Waziristan, Parachinar, Bannu and other districts and are now in quarantine.”
A senior official at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport, who did not want to be named since he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the passengers came from Pakistan International Airlines, Emirates and Airblue flights.
“At least 36 passengers on a PIA flight tested positive for the virus on Thursday,” the official said.
Dr. Ikramullah Khan, director public health at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial health department, confirmed that the passengers who tested positive for the disease were quarantined in a nearby medical facility.
Those who could afford a hotel, he said, were allowed to complete their isolation period at a private lodging devoted to COVID-19 patients arriving from abroad.
“As of today, we have a total of 104 corona positive patients in quarantine facilities who primarily came from the UAE and Bahrain,” Khan added.
Latest statistics released by Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Center reveal that the total number of COVID-19 infections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the beginning of the pandemic reached 128,561 on Friday, with 3,875 deaths.
