Pakistan on Saturday reopened border with Iran for trade activities, 14 days after it was closed following a spike in cases of novel coronavirus in the neighbouring country.
According to Levies officials, trade activities resumed at the border after 14 days with trailers coming and going into the country. According to the local administration, movement of goods-laden trucks and trailers has started following the restoration of trade activities.
Passengers arriving in the country through Taftan border are, however, kept in quarantine at the Pakistan House, where the number of travellers has crossed 3,000. Some visitors have been shifted to Town Hall as well due to space constraints.
The government had shut the Taftan border on February 23 as part of its precautionary measures to contain the spread of the mysterious virus which originated in a vet market of Hubei’s Wuhan city and has since then spread to more than 90 countries of the world, killing over 3,500 and infecting over 100,000, mostly in China thus far.
Iran has reported 21 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,076 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tolls to 145 dead and 5,823 infected.
The Islamic republic is battling one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks of the disease outside China.
Pakistani pilgrims and traders were barred from traveling to and from Iran. Hundreds of pilgrims were called back to Quetta from the Taftan border and special check posts had been established to monitor their movement.
On the other hand, the border with Afghanistan at Chaman stands closed for the last six days following confirmation of fresh coronavirus cases in the westerly neighbours. The two-sided transportation, remains suspended at Bab-e-Dosti.
Reports said the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman is likely to reopen on Sunday (today). Travelers entering the country will, however, be screened for coronavirus.
Pakistani authorities have stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Screening machines have been installed and quarantine centres established at border outposts where pilgrims coming from Iran are kept before being allowed to enter the country.
Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani meanwhile said that schools will reopen from March 9 so that admit cards for the upcoming matriculation exams can be collected. The minister clarified that the schools in this period will only be open for the purpose of card collection, not for regular classes, which will start on March 16.
A day earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had said that Pakistan’s economy can suffer a maximum of 1.57pc gross domestic product (GDP) losses on account of agriculture, business and trade, tourism and health in case of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country. However, the impact of the prevailing outbreak on the country’s economy is estimated between $61m and $16.23m losses depending on how the situation evolves ranging from the worst to the best possible scenario.
As many as 282 pilgrims who returned from Iran remain under quarantine in their homes across Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was told during a meeting of the provincial coronavirus taskforce. The meeting was informed that four suspected coronavirus cases were tested on Saturday, and all of them turned out to be negative. The sample of a fifth suspect has been sent for testing.
Elsewhere in the world, Maldives on Saturday confirmed first two cases of coronavirus. The two infected people are employees at a tourist resort and are believed to have caught the disease from an Italian tourist who has returned to Italy and tested positive there.
Italy began recruiting retired doctors as part of urgent efforts to bolster the healthcare system with 20,000 additional staff and fight the escalating viral epidemic. The measure was one of several adopted by the government during an all-night cabinet meeting that came after the Mediterranean country reported 49 more deaths.
Malta also confirmed its first coronavirus case, a 12-year-old girl of Italian origin who lives in the Mediterranean island nation with her family. Health minister Chris Fearne said the girl and her family had visited northern Italy in late February and early March, returning to Malta via Rome.
Two people have tested positive for the new coronavirus after taking part in a pro-Israel lobby group’s conference in Washington which Vice President Mike Pence, State Secretary Mike Pompeo and dozens of lawmakers also attended. “We have confirmed that at least two attendees from New York have tested positive for the coronavirus,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee said in the message, posted to its Twitter account.
