Is Iran-bordering Taftan town Pakistan's Achilles heel in the battle against COVID-19?
A pilgrim walks beside tents at a quarantine camp prepared for people returning from Iran
Amid the global coronavirus scare, more than 9,000 people have moved in from Iran to Pakistan through the Taftan border town.
The town of Taftan, which borders Iran is currently hosting the people in a 'tent city', under the guidance of the Balochistan government.
People who were earlier quarantined in Iran are being put in isolation again to minimise the risk of infection.
Also read:Coronavirus scare: Restaurants in Karachi close dine-in option to encourage social distancing
However, the area lacks many facilities. In fact, it was only last Thursday that the town set up a COVID-19 testing lab.
Most people were moved to provinces across the country before this facility was set up.
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Out of the 197 active coronavirus cases in Pakistan, 153 are from Taftan. Patients were moved back-and-forth under the careful eye of the government.
The three places that are becoming the hubs of coronavirus cases in Pakistan are Sukkur with 119 positive cases, Dera Ghazi Khan with five cases, and Dera Ismail Khan with 15 cases.
It seems like Taftan border is becoming Pakistan's Achilles Heel in terms of the coronavirus outbreak. To put things into perspective, here is the distance between Taftan and the three aforementioned places:
Sukkur to Taftan: 988 kilometres
Dera Ghazi Khan to Tafan: 1,118 kilometres
Dera Ismail Khan to Taftan: 1,180 kilometres
Considering the distance, the cases could have been easily isolated at their earlier locations, which would have kept the count in Pakistan low.
Many pilgrims were allowed to return to their cities from Taftan. However, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sent the pilgrims to isolation facilities in Sukkur and Dera Ismail Khan where everybody was tested further before being allowed to travel.
Currently, Pakistan has 197 cases: 155 in Sindh, 15 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ten in Balochistan, five in Gilgit-Baltistan, two in Islamabad, and one in Punjab.
The Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah at a recent press conference said that people were not adequately quarantined in Taftan and that many pilgrims were kept together. If true, this could explain the sudden surge in the number of cases in Pakistan.
All states in Pakistan have shut down educational institutions until April 5 to clamp down on the virus before more people get infected.
In an interview, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he fears Pakistan won't be able to cope with a major outbreak, saying the country's health facilities would be overwhelmed and would lack resources
Recently, the country has also shut down the western border with Afghanistan and Iran.
COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year and has since infected 182,405 people and killed at least 7, 154 people.