Observer Report
Geneva/Islamabad
The World Health Organisation sees the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have, therefore, made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” he told a news conference.
Four countries account for 93% of the nearly 110,000 cases worldwide, Tedros said. “We are encouraged that Italy is taking aggressive measures to contain its epidemic and we hope that those measures prove effective in the coming days,” he added.
Meanwhile, first Pakistani patient of COVID-19 has passed away in an Italian town on Wednesday, the Foreign Office said. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aisha Farooqui told media that a 61-year-old man, identified as Imtiaz Ahmad, has died of coronavirus disease in Brescia – an Italian town in the northern Italian region of Lombardy located some 100 miles away from Milan.
The consulate has been in touch with the family and Italian authorities on this matter, the official added.
The second coronavirus case of Gilgit-Baltistan emerged on Wednesday. The 14-year-old boy, a resident of Skardu, was held at an isolation centre where he tested positive for the mysterious viral pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus. So far 20 Pakistanis have been tested positive for COVID-19 with 15 of them belonging to Sindh, four in Gilgit-Baltistan now and one in Balochistan.
First coronavirus case surfaces in Quetta, raising Pakistan’s tally to 19
Meanwhile, Dr Zafar Mirza, the de facto health minister, has said the federal government is looking closely at the changing situation and new cases are being provided with the best medical care.
“No need to worry… the situation is completely under control. The federal and provincial governments are jointly making all-out efforts to protect the masses from coronavirus on war footing,” he wrote using his official Twitter handle.
Dr Mirza admitted that the coronavirus cases in Pakistan had doubled in the last 24 hours.
“This is not surprising. Disease has spread in 106 countries. All 19 cases have brought this from abroad. All are stable. There is no evidence of local spread as yet. If we act responsibly we can avoid spread,” he wrote.
He also advised the public to observe hygiene by washing hands properly, avoid touching face and keeping distance with sick people. “The government is working hard to contain the spread, but we all need to take our part in this fight,” he added.
All educational institutions in Sindh and Balochistan have been closed till March 13 over fear of the contagious disease’s outbreak.
The central streets of Rome were deserted on Wednesday morning and buses that are usually crammed with commuters ran almost empty. Tourists have largely disappeared and the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Square is closed to all but those who want to enter the main basilica to pray under its soaring dome overlooking Rome.
People have been told to keep at least a metre (three feet) from each other and handshakes are frowned upon. Italians have found themselves starting to talk to each other a few steps apart — while often laughing about the regulations along the way.
