PIA pilots taken to Lahore hospital after testing positive for COVID-19

LAHORE - Two pilots of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) tested positive for the coronavirus infection, confirmed Punjab Healh Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid.

Health officials tested a five-member crew of a flight from Toronto for the infection at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.

Two pilots have been diagnosed with the virus that affects respiratory tract. Both have been shifted to a private hospital and they are reportedly in good condition.

Those who tested negative for the virus have been directed to adopt isolation for 15 days as a precautionary step.

The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan rose to a total of 3,277, according to government data available till Monday morning, after recording 397 new cases in past 24 hours.

The death toll related to COVID-19 has reached 50, according to the National Command and Control Centre, while at least 257 patients have fully recovered.

Punjab has become the worst-hit province in the country with 1493 cases (12 deaths) followed by Sindh, 881 (15 deaths); Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, 405 (16 deaths); Gilgit Baltistan, 210 (3 deaths); Balochistan 192 (1 death); Islamabad 82; and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 15.

Pakistan nears 177,000 cases of coronavirus – 3,501 confirmed dead