First case surfaces in Quetta

First case of COVID-19, the mysterious viral pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has emerged in the Quetta on Tuesday, pushing the countrywide tally to 19, Aaj news reported. The 12-year-old patient had arrived in Quetta along with his parents from Iran via Taftan border, head of a government hospital said.

The family belongs to Dadu district in Sindh, said the medical superintendent (MS) of Fatima Jinnah Hospital, adding that parents, three siblings and paternal aunt of the child are tested negative. "Blood samples were sent to the laboratory based on the family's travel history of visiting coronavirus-infected areas in Iran," Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said. Shahwani said the ambulance, in which he was taken to the hospital, has been parked at an undisclosed location after sterilisation. Driver of the ambulance has also been kept in quarantine with his blood samples sent for laboratory tests. Chief Minister Jam Jamal Khan also confirmed the development on Twitter. "One case in Quetta has come positive after two tests. The child is in Fatima Jinnah [Hospital] and the condition is under control," he wrote.