By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: As many as 99 more cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in different areas of the country in the last 24 hours, raising the tally of such patients to 875, media reported.
According to the details, out of the total, 394 cases were reported in Sindh, 246 in Punjab, 110 in Balochistan, 71 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 38 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas 15 people were diagnosed with the deadly virus in Islamabad and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Authorities said that six people diagnosed with COVID-19 have been cured and six others died of the virus.
A spokesperson of the Punjab Healthcare Commission said that there were 246 patients in Punjab that included 177 patients in DG Khan and 52 patients in Lahore.
41 new coronavirus cases emerged in Sindh on Monday, 39 of them were detected in Sukkur pilgrims while three in Karachi, taking the provincial count of COVID-19 cases to 394, media reported.
The Sindh Health Department said 39 new cases were detected in pilgrims quarantined in Sukkur on return from Iran via Taftan border. Three coronavirus positive patients surfaced in the port city, raising Karachi’s tally to 133. There a total of 88 cases of local transmission in Karachi so far, the health officials said. Overall 99 more cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in different cities of the country in the last 24 hours, raising the tally to 875.
According to the details, out of the total, 394 cases were reported in Sindh, 246 in Punjab, 110 in Balochistan, 71 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 38 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas 15 people were diagnosed with the deadly virus in Islamabad and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The capital administration on Monday placed Islamabad’s union council of Kot Hathial under quarantine after six members of the Tableeghi Jamaat residing in the area tested positive for the coronavirus.
The development comes as four people in Sindh and two Palestinians tested positive for the virus after attending the Tableeghi Jamaat congregation in Raiwind comprising tens of thousands of people which was held from March 11 to 15 near Lahore. It wasn’t immediately clear if the Jamaat members who tested positive in Islamabad had attended the Raiwind Ijtima (congregation). The six patients were part of a 13-member Tableeghi Jamaat delegation including six Kyrgyzstan nationals and seven Pakistanis that was staying at a mosque in Kot Hathial in the capital’s Bhara Kahu area.
After a man from Kyrgyzstan who was a part of the preaching team tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, samples were sent for testing of the other members of the delegation as well. The test results of five people came out positive on Monday, said Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP) Bhara Kahu Hamza Amanullah.
He said tests are also being carried out of the seven other members of the Jamaat, which included a madrassah student. After the confirmation of the cases, the administration locked down Kot Hathial and deployed police at its entry and exit points.
“The entire area has been turned into a quarantine,” ASP Amanullah said in a statement, adding that the district administration will get tests done of the residents of the locality. A spokesperson for the Islamabad police said the Jamaat members who tested positive were quarantined in the mosque they were residing in. A video provided to media showed a police official announcing on a microphone that the mosque was being sealed for 14 days and requesting residents of the area to not visit it.
ASP Amanullah said all shops in the neighbourhood except grocery stores, milk shops and bakeries have been closed. The Bhara Kahu Bazaar will also be closed once orders in this regard are issued by the district administration, he added. Many foreign delegations had arrived in Pakistan to attend the Tableeghi Jamaat congregation in Raiwind.
