All Borders to Remain Closed for Two More Weeks

The novel coronavirus emerged in the central China city of Wuhan towards the end of last year and proliferated to almost the whole world within a couple of months. It’s not the virulence or fatality, but the infectivity of the new virus – also known as SARS-CoV-2 – that has set off a global frenzy.

The COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by this mysterious contagion has so far infected more than 1.9 million people in 202 countries and territories of the world – more than 118,000 of them have died and counting.

Pakistan, despite its close proximity with China, remained coronavirus-free until February 26 when a young man from Karachi tested positive after returning from Iran – one of the worst-hit countries. After a brief hiatus following the first case, COVID-19 cases spiked as more pilgrims returning from Iran tested positive for the virus.

The nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients has reached 5,537 with 2,656 cases in Punjab, 1,452 in Sindh, 800 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 231 in Balochistan, 224 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 131 in Islamabad, and 43 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The virus has claimed 96 lives while at least 1,125 coronavirus patients have recovered.

The number of cases has continued to soar despite the country being under lockdown for the third consecutive week.

The situation remains fluid and we’re updating stats as soon as new figures are officially released.