Coronavirus cases in Pakistan rise to over 1,400 as Punjab emerges as new epicentre


PTI | Islamabad | Updated: 28-03-2020 14:33 IST | Created: 28-03-2020 14:33 IST
Coronavirus cases in Pakistan rise to over 1,400 as Punjab emerges as new epicentre
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The coronavirus cases in Pakistan on Saturday reached 1,408, including 11 deaths, with the Punjab province emerging as the new epicentre of the deadly viral infection in the country. Seven of the total infected are in a critical condition, the Health Ministry said. Most of the infected people had returned from Iran, where the confirmed cases are over 30,000 with more than 2,300 deaths.

Punjab recorded a total of 490 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, up from 419 cases on Friday. The number surpassed Sindh's tally of 457 cases. Sindh was the province, which reported Pakistan's first coronavirus case. Of the 490 cases in Punjab, the highest number of 207 were reported from Dera Ghazi Khan district.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 180 cases, Balochistan registered 133, Gilgit-Baltistan recorded 107 cases, while it was 39 in Islamabad and 2 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the ministry said. Twenty-five people have recovered so far, it said. Punjab chief ministe Buzdar tweeted that a 22-year-old COVID-19 patient died in Faisalabad, taking the total number of deaths due to the disease in the province to five.

Meanwhile, Health Advisor Zafar Mirza said a team of eight Chinese doctors will arrive in Pakistan to review the steps taken by the government to combat coronavirus outbreak. They will share their experience with local doctors..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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