People acquiring viral disease from those returning from abroad: report

KARACHI: Health authorities in Sindh on Monday said the total number of coronavirus cases in the province jumped to 150 from 35 after dozens of pilgrims from Iran, kept in quarantine at Sukkur, tested positive for the viral disease while several cases of people-to-people transmission was also reported from Karachi too.

“Total number of coronavirus cases in Sindh jumped to 150 after 106 more pilgrims from Iran, who are being quarantined at Sukkur after reaching there from Taftan, tested positive on Monday,” an official of the Sindh health department told The News.

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The officials maintained that several people also tested positive for COVID-19 in Karachi, raising the total number of cases in the metroplois to 30, adding that community transmission of the virus had started in Karachi where people were acquiring the viral disease from those who had come from abroad and transmitting to others.

At the moment, one person has tested positive for coronavirus in Hyderabad, the official said, adding that over 150 samples of suspected patients from different hospitals were being analysed at three health facilities including the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and Indus Hospital, Karachi. 

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Infectious diseases experts in Karachi have claimed that a ‘sizeable number’ of people were affected by the coronavirus after pilgrims from Iran were allowed to enter without being kept in a proper quarantine by the federal health authorities. 

"Infected people from the UK, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia were allowed into the country and they spread the disease to those around them," 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan rose to 183 on Monday after 150 more cases were reported.  Most of the cases were reported from Sindh, with the tally rising to 150 and 119 people testing positive for the virus in Sukkur.

Originally published in The News