Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan report new coronavirus cases, nationwide tally goes to 456

Pakistan on Thursday reported new positive coronavirus cases in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, officials confirmed, taking the national tally up to 451.

In Balochistan, total cases shot to 81, while the GB tally stood at 21.

A day prior, Pakistan had reported its first two deaths from the virus, both in Khyber Pakhthunkwa. The first victim was a 50-year-old from Mardan who had recently returned from Umrah.

“The patient had developed fever, cough and breathing difficulty and tested +ve for corona virus. Contacts are being screened," Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra had said.

The second was a resident of Hangu.

"Sadly, a second patient in LRH Peshawar, a 36-year-old, from Hangu, has also passed away, from the Corona Virus," Jhagra had said. 

Earlier yesterday, the Gilgit-Baltistan government had retracted its statement regarding a patient dying from the coronavirus in the region. It had said the provincial spokesperson had not confirmed the news before breaking it.

Multiple news channels had reported about Pakistan's first coronavirus patient dying after GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq confirmed that a 90-year-old man passed away from the infection.

Faraq had said it seemed to be a case of secondary transmission of the virus as the patient did not have any travel history. However, the GB government's media coordinator, Rasheed Arshad, explained that the provincial spokesperson broke the news without verifying it.

He had said the patient was suffering from pneumonia and kidney complications.