Pakistan's tally of coronavirus rises to 20 as second case emerges in Gilgit Baltistan

Gigit Baltistan reported its second coronavirus case on Wednesday, government spokesperson Faizullah Firaq said.

With the latest case in GB, the total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan rose to 20.

According to the spokesperson, the patient, a 14-year-old hails from Skardu. 

The patient is under treatment at City Hospital in Skardu, added Firaq.

130 isolation wards established

The spokesman said that in wake of the situation, 130 isolation wards have been established in Gilgit-Baltistan.

 Firaq said seven rooms have been reserved to treat coronavirus patients  at the Skardu hospital. He added samples have been taken from eight suspected patients and sent to Islamabad for confirmation. 

Earlier today,  a three-member team of the National Institute of Health (NIH) reached Skardu, where they met with the Gilgit Baltistan secretary.

The meeting discussed the precautionary measures that can be taken to combat the coronavirus.

First case in GB

The GB spokesman said that the NIH experts will train local health officials.

The first confirmed case in GB was of a 45-year-old woman, who arrived from Iran a few days ago,  the NIH officials said on March 3.

An official of the health department said the woman was being treated at a hospital and her family members were being tested for the virus.

Sindh reports most cases

In Pakistan, Sindh has reported the most number of confirmed cases among the provinces, with Karachi being the worst affected city having 15 of the total confirmed cases.

Earlier this week, Pakistan extended the closure of its Chaman border with Afghanistan for another seven days amid the coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring country.