Govt. says no need to panic, confirms first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan

The first two cases of the novel coronavirus are reported to be confirmed in Pakistan.

The confirmation comes from Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza in a tweet on Wednesday evening.

“I can confirm the first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable,” he wrote.

Announcing that he will hold a press conference tomorrow on his return from Taftan, he added, “No need to panic, things are under control”.

The confirmation from Dr. Mirza came moments after the Sindh health department announced the first positive coronavirus case in Karachi. While the details of the second confirmed case are not shared yet.

The Sindh Health Department Wednesday night confirmed Pakistan’s first case of a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Karachi.

A 22-year-old male patient, identified as Yahya Jaffri, traveled to Iran where he acquired the virus, tested positive for COVID-19.

Media Coordinator to the Health and Population Welfare Minister Meeran Yousuf said in a statement said that the patient travelled from Iran to Karachi by plane on February 20.

He and his family have been placed in quarantine and the Health Department is in the process of examining all the passengers that he travelled with, the statement added.

Meeran Yousuf further added that the man had started showing symptoms while he was in Iran.

His tests were carried out today at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) which turned out to be positive, she said.