Srinagar- Pakistan moved Friday to temporarily seal borders with Iran and Afghanistan, close all educational institutions and ban large gatherings at public places for three weeks, including wedding parties, to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading in the region, reports said.
The preventative measures were announced on a day when officials raised to 28 the national tally of people infected with the virus. Pakistan, with a population of more than 200 million, has reported no fatalities since detecting its first confirmed case late last month.
State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said that all of Pakistan’s cases were imported by its nationals returning from countries, including Iran, Syria, China and the United Kingdom. He said there were no local transmissions of the virus as of Friday.
Syrian authorities, however, are reported to have denied the presence of coronavirus on their soil, saying dozens of suspected cases have tested negative.
Meanwhile, Organizers of Pakistan’s largest national cricket competition, which features prominent international players, also shortened and closed its remaining matches to spectators. Many foreign players have opted to leave Pakistan.
(Inputs from VoA)
