Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rise to 52 in Pakistan

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 52 in Pakistan after 20 new cases were reported in the country on Sunday.

Five of the new cases have been reported in Karachi, 13 in Sukkur, while one new case emerged in Islamabad and Punjab, respectively.

In Islamabad, the husband of a woman who had been admitted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after showing symptoms of the virus a day earlier, has also been reported to have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to PIMS officials, the couple has been kept in separate isolation wards.

PIMS officials said the number of patients under treatment at the hospital is now four.

In Punjab, the first case was reported today.

According to Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema, the patient had returned from UK on March 10 and was tested positive at Lahore's Mayo Hospital.

In Sukkur, 13 new cases emerged today. Senator Murtaza Wahab, adviser to the Sindh chief minister on law, confirmed the tally, saying that the new cases had returned to Sukkur via Taftan where they had been under quarantine.

Karachi tally

Five new cases were reported in Karachi, taking the city's toll to 22 and Sindh's total number of cases to 35, with two patients recovering.

Sindh Health department tweeted that it has received four new cases of COVID-19 in Karachi. Three patients had returned from Saudi Arabia and were tested positive, while one patient who was diagnosed with the virus had no recent travel history.

Later in the day, Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh chief minister's adviser on law, said that yet another case has emerged in the city. The patient hails from Balochistan and arrived in Karachi yesterday.

The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 154,620 with 5,796 deaths, across 139 countries and territories at 0900 GMT Sunday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.

Between the tally at 1700 GMT on Saturday and the latest figures on Sunday, there were 32 more deaths reported and 2,839 new cases.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), take into account the fact that criteria for counting victims and coronavirus screening practices vary from country to country.

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — where the epidemic was declared in late December, has to date declared 80,844 cases, for 3,199 deaths, with 66,911 people recovered. The country declared 20 new cases and 10 new fatalities between Saturday and Sunday.

Outside China, there had been 2,597 deaths by Sunday — 22 since Saturday — for 73,780 cases, 2,819 of them new.

The worst-hit nation after China is still Italy with 1,441 deaths for 21,157 cases, Iran with 611 fatalities (12,729 cases), Spain, with 183 deaths for 5,753 cases and France, with 91 deaths and 4,499 cases.