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Pakistan announced Thursday airport authorities have begun screening
travelers from neighboring China for signs of the coronavirus.
China’s recent billions of dollars of investments in infrastructure
development projects in Pakistan has led to a spike in the number of
people traveling between the two countries, including thousands of
Chinese workers.
Pakistani officials said more than 40 direct or indirect flights from
China land every week at three main airports, including Karachi, the
country’s largest city, Lahore and the national capital of Islamabad.
“These points of entry are being closely monitored in line with
international health regulations,” Pakistani State Minister of Health
Zafar Mirza said in a statement.
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No cases reported yet
However, he noted, Pakistan has so far not reported any case of the
coronavirus, which seems to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
“Major hospitals in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad are also being linked
with surveillance systems on airports, seaports and ground crossings,”
Mirza told the state-run broadcaster.
He said emergency measures are being put in place in coordination with
the Chinese embassy in Islamabad to make sure that a large number of
Chinese workers, who recently went to their homeland in connection with
their New Year’s celebrations, are strictly screened when they return
back.
WHO has confirmed nearly 500 cases, including nearly 20 deaths, all are
said to be in or from China.
The Pakistani government, Mirza said, was in constant touch with Chinese
counterparts and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure
strengthened national surveillance and quarantine systems.
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Wuhan quarantine
Chinese officials cordoned off Wuhan starting Thursday in their bid to
limit the spread of the disease nationally and internationally. Public
transport in the city of 11 million people has been suspended, airports
and train stations temporarily shut, and residents instructed not to
exit Wuhan unless there are “special reasons.”
International health experts are scrambling to contain the disease, but
the virus is new and not much is known about it.
The disease is mainly transmitted from animals to humans, but scientists
have ascertained that there is limited human-to-human transmission.
Health experts are warning people to avoid coming in close contact with
people suspected of carrying the virus.
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