Pak to receive more medical supplies from China as coronavirus cases cross 4,700

Pakistan is set to receive more medical supplies from its all-weather ally China to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country where the COVID-19 cases have sharply increased to 4,788 and death toll reached 71, officials said on Saturday. The Ministry of National Health Services, in an early morning update on its website, reported that five patients died of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases on Saturday rose to 4,788 with more than 190 fresh infections.

The death toll from COVID-19 has reached 71. As many as 762 have recovered while 50 were in critical condition, it said. According to the data, Punjab reported 2,336 COVID-19 patients, Sindh 1,214, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 656, Balochistan 220, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 215, Islamabad 113 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) 34.

Meanwhile, China is providing more medical supplies to Pakistan to fight the coronavirus pandemic. A special plane of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) is arriving from China with more medical supplies. It is the second plane to arrive in two days, Naghmana Hashmi, Pakistan's Ambassador to China, said. "PIA special plane with 50 donated ventilators, equip & PPEs (personal protective equipment) left Chengdu for Islamabad today.

One plane of relief goods from Beijing went yesterday," she tweeted. Earlier on March 27, the Khunjerab pass between Pakistan and China was opened for a day to receive Chinese medical supplies. Pakistan and China describe their relations as all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests.

Authorities in Pakistan have so far conducted 57,836 tests, including 2,457 in the last one day. The official data showed that 52 per cent patients were those who had travelled abroad while 48 per cent were local transmissions. So far Lahore with 21 per cent share of total infections is on the top as the most infected city in Pakistan, followed by Karachi with 18 per cent infections. But a Sindh health official expressed concern on Friday that Karachi was vulnerable due to its dense population and increase in the rare of local transmission. Three districts out of six of the metropolis have over 100 cases each, with the East District having 185 positive cases, Central District 144 and the South District 135 cases.

Pakistan Medical Association's Karachi chapter general secretary, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, said residents in poor localities are roaming, posing a serious threat to them and others. ?I believe there would be far more cases in other areas, such as Keamari, Lyari, Korangi and Orangi Town,? he said. Also, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday chaired a meeting with officials to discuss ways to bring back about 40,000 Pakistanis stranded in various countries. Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further.