With 2 more cases, Pakistan coronavirus infections rise to 4

Two more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pakistan on Saturday, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to four.

Earlier, two people tested positive for the deadly disease in the country on February 26. Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Health Zafar Mirza confirmed the two new cases on Saturday.

“One of the patients is from Karachi while the other is from the federal territory (Islamabad),” he said. The Sindh provincial government said that the patient from Karachi had recently travelled to Iran where he contracted the virus. “All his recent contacts have been quarantined and are being monitored,” the government said. Special Assistant to the prime minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said it was important to focus on the prevention of spread of virus and the government was working on it.

“Facilities to diagnose the disease have been provided in Quetta, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore and it was the resolve of Prime Minister Imran Khan that we should not be afraid of the coronavirus rather fight it,” she tweeted. On Wednesday, a young man tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Karachi - the first confirmed case in Pakistan. Shortly after, another case was confirmed and both have returned from Iran.

The Iran health ministry on Friday confirmed 34 deaths due to the deadly disease and 388 confirmed cases of the virus in the country. According to media reports, the country has the highest number of death toll outside China, the epicenter of the virus.

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