Coronavirus cases surge to 93 in Pakistan; 76 people test positive in Sindh

Pakistan reported at least 93confirmed cases of coronavirus with Sindh province accounting for the most number of cases.

Also Read:First coronavirus case in Islamabad, tally soars to 31 in Pakistan

Lawmaker Murtaza Wahab in a tweet said: "So far 50 people who had arrived in Sukkur from Taftaan have tested positive, 25 at Karachi & one at Hyderabad."

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More results have come in. So far 50 people who had arrived in Sukkur from Taftaan have tested positive, 25 at Karachi & 1 at Hyderabad. So the total patients have reached 76 in Sindh. Out of these 76 patients, 2 have recovered & the remaining 74 are being kept in isolation — SenatorMurtaza Wahab (@murtazawahab1) March 16, 2020

"So the total patients have reached 76 in Sindh," he added.

Pakistan had already decided to shut all its schools on Friday as the government announced it was closing its land border with Iran and Afghanistan over the rising cases of coronavirus.

Also Read: Amid coronavirus outbreak, face masks disappear in Pakistan

"It has been decided that all borders will remain closed for 15 days," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Flights to and from Iran were already closed by Pakistan earlier. Meanwhile, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced it was stopping flight operations to Saudi Arabia for the next two weeks over coronavirus.

Pakistan's national carrier said that PIA flights from Jeddah and Madina will continue till March 17 to carry Umra passengers back home.

SAARC nations had got together for a video-conference on coronavirus. India proposed a series of measures, including setting up an emergency fund where New Delhi offered $10 million.

During the call, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said," the closing of borders will result in a significant problem of availability of food, medicines & basic goods".