Another coronavirus patient identified in Pakistan; total cases rise to 7

Islamabad, Mar 9 (PTI) A 50-year-old man has been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to seven.

The new case was found in Karachi on Sunday.

This is the seventh case in Pakistan though one has already recovered and discharged, while another one is ready to be discharged, Zafar Mirza, the special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, said on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

According to the Sindh Health Department, a 50-year-old man, who is a resident of Karachi, tested positive for the mysterious disease.

“All his contacts have been quarantined. We are looking into further details of the patient’s travel history, read the official statement.

The new case has emerged as all educational institutions in Sindh province have been closed till March 13 over fears of the contagious disease’s outbreak in the province.

Earlier, all the six COVID-19 cases in Pakistan three in Karachi and as many in Gilgit-Baltistan had a history of travel to Iran.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 95 nations and territories.

The World Health Organisation last week raised the global virus risk to maximum level after the outbreak spread to sub-Saharan Africa and stock markets around the world plummeted.