Health Desk:
Around 95 percent of patients of a novel coronavirus in Balochistan had a travel history of neighboring Iran. And most of them were Zaireen entered into Pakistan from Iran in the aftermath of outbreak of coronavirus in late February this year.
Zahoor Buledi, the Balochistan finance minister while addressing a press conference on Sunday revealed that out of 138 coronavirus patients 131 were Zaireen (Shia pilgrims) in the province.
Hitherto, 6,570 pilgrims entered from Iran into Pakistan : Zahoor Buledi
Pakistan had shut down its border with Iran on February 23rd to halt the spread of coronavirus in the country. However, the border was opened for Zaireen, traders, tourists and students.
The Balochistan government has been able to contain the virus locally and the lockdown has been ordered to halt the spread of the virus across the province. So far, 95 percent of cases belong to Zaireen entered from Iran into Pakistan.
The provincial government has also declared an emergency at five districts including Washuk, Chaghi, Panjgoor, Kech and Gwadar to contain the virus.
Dr. Zafar Mirza, the adviser to the Prime Minister on health on Sunday said that a single coronavirus patient had no travel history of China in the country. China retained all Pakistani students and traders and allowed them after thorough health tests to fly to Pakistan.
