A total of 78 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Punjab, the provincial health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said on Thursday.
Speaking to the media here in the provincial capital, Dr Rashid said 320 of the 384 total samples tested were negative and 78 were positive. Of these, 60 were pilgrims, she added.
Dr Rashid said that patients were immediately isolated once it was confirmed that they are carrying the virus.
"If patients diagnosed with coronavirus are kept together, the pandemic doesn't spread," the provincial minister said.
At least two cases have been recorded in Gujrat, both of whom were being treated in Gujrat Hospital, she said.
She explained that the people coming from abroad knew they were infected with the coronavirus. "All patients who have tested positive arrived from abroad," she added.
Read more: 45 more coronavirus cases reported in Punjab, nationwide tally goes to 377
Dr Rashid said Punjab had more than 500 rooms ready for isolation purposes. The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), she added, had a Level-3 laboratory and had been given half of the total COVID-19 testing kits.
"We have kept the rest [of the kits] ourselves," she added.
The provincial health minister mentioned that madressahs, colleges, and universities had been closed down and that everything — including malls — would be shut down by 10pm at night. "Try and stay within your homes," she cautioned.
Speaking of Iran, she said the situation there was extremely grave. The country "has said it is facing difficulties in supporting its people" and has, therefore, asked to take some of its patients as a gesture of compassion.
