Pakistan on Friday opened its borders with all-weather ally China for a day to accept Chinese medical supplies to fight the coronavirus outbreak which has infected nearly 1,300 people and killed nine others, officials said.
China on Thursday asked Pakistan to open the border between the two countries for one day on Friday so that medical supplies to fight coronavirus pandemic could be transported into the country.
The number of coronavirus patients in Pakistan has reached to 1,286, according to the latest data. There were 440 patients in Sindh, 419 in Punjab, 131 in Balochistan, 176 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 91 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 27 in Islamabad and 2 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
So far, nine patients have died, 23 recovered and 7 others are in critical condition.
A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party lawmaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from Mardan was tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.
"I am not saddened by my diagnosis; my conscience did not allow me to look the other way while others were suffering. God willing, I will recover soon and continue to work for the people of my constituency," Member of Provincial Assembly Abdul Salam Afridi said in a video message.
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One new case was reported in PoK, taking the tally to 2. Complete lockdown has been imposed by the regional government and strict measures were taken to prevent the further spread.
According to the Sindh Health and Population Welfare Department, 11 of the new cases reported across the province on Friday are local transmission cases from Karachi.
The Sindh government has given divisional commissioners the provision to declare emergency in their divisions from time-to-time to dispense their official duties.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has said that it will extend public holidays in the province till April 5 while the ban on large gatherings will remain in effect until April 30.
China was providing critical medical supplies to Pakistan and the Khunjerab pass between the two countries was opened on Friday to let the goods enter Pakistan, according to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.
"Medical supplies from Xinjiang, China to Pakistan is delivered through Khunjerab (5,000m) port today, highest land port on Earth. Both sides from China and Pakistan braved the cold, cleared the roads, made good preparations for the delivery of the medical supplies at the Khunjerab Pass, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan tweeted on Friday.
China has also sent 56,000 coronavirus testing kits, N-95 masks and other equipment to Pakistan. Governor Sindh Imran Ismail received the consignment at the Jinnah international Airport in Karachi.
Pakistan and China describe their relations as all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has extended the date for successful Hajj applicants to submit their medical certificates till April 10. March 27 was the last day to submit the ceritificates.
Meanwhile, several cases of extreme negligence were also being reported from different areas.
Close to 40 to 50 people in Lahore defied government orders and offered the Friday prayers at Lahore's iconic Badshahi mosque. However, they maintained a distance during the prayers.
In Islamabad, Friday prayers were held at Faisal Mosque where nearly 40 people offered prayers by maintaining some distance.
The government had issued a notification limiting the number of people between three to five who can attend Friday and congregational prayers in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In Pakpattan, some 200 kms from Lahore, police arrested a groom and 50 others present at his wedding for violating the lockdown rules.
"We have arrested the groom and 50 others for holding a gathering in violation of COVID-19 lockdown rules. We have called doctors to screen them for coronavirus and released some of them after warning," a police official said.
Meanwhile, Lahore's Services Hospital doctors have reportedly refused to admit suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients to the facility after a doctor was infected.
According to officials, over 200 suspected patients of COVID-19 were denied admission at the Services Hospital on Thursday and Friday.
The doctors sent the samples of these suspected patients to the lab for tests and asked them to revisit the hospital to collect their reports. Of them five patients were tested positive for the virus. It is feared that these patients might have infected several others before collecting their reports from the hospital.
The Punjab government has launched a probe into the matter. Young doctors and nurses in different public hospitals have been protesting for not getting protective medical kit and gear.
A person with suspected coronavirus infection in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was allowed to go home after giving samples on March 24, Geo News reported.
Later, he was tested positive and the authorities took him to a hospital and put the entire village in quarantine.
On Wednesday, Bhara Khahu town in Islamabad was sealed after several cases emerged in the locality. Earlier, a village of Mardan area was sealed after spike in the cases.
Punjab Police on Friday presented a guard of honour to the doctors and nurses performing their duties at Lahore' Mayo Hospital.
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