Islamabad: As coronavirus spreads from Asia to Europe, America and the Middle East, with health officials across the globe scrambling to contain its spread, two cases of the novel virus has emerged from Pakistan.
"We have two confirmed cases of the coronavirus and both patients are under treatment as per clinical standard protocols and they are stable at the moment," Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, told reporters in Quetta late on Wednesday night.
He said there was "no need to panic" as the "things are under control".
"One case has been reported from Sindh while the second one was confirmed in the Federal areas," he said, adding that both patients had returned from Iran recently.
Read: Coronavirus outbreak: 80,000 infected globally causing 2,700 deaths
Mirza said 15 suspected cases of the virus are currently under investigation while 100 have tested negative for the virus. Mirza urged the public to go to hospitals if they start experiencing any of the symptoms and contact the government helpline 1166.
He said due to the measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of the virus, Pakistan is the last country in the region where COVID-19 has been reported.
Pakistan has closed its border with Iran where at least 19 people have died from the virus. A spokesperson for the Sindh Health Department said the Karachi victim had come from Iran on February 20.
Meanwhile, the Baluchistan government in a precautionary measure announced the closure of all education institutions in the province until March 15. The Sindh government announced that educational institutions in the province will remain shut on Thursday and Friday.
With inputs from PTI
