KARACHI – A passenger, who has been placed in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 at Karachi airport, on Thursday managed to escape from the quarantine facility, raising objections over the administrative measures.
Authorities had put five passengers in isolation at the federal government-controlled quarantine facility when they tested positive after reaching Karachi from Dubai.
Health department has confirmed that the escaped passenger was infected, adding that he was placed in isolation at Bhittai Abad center.
On May 4, the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan introduced new rules for inbound passengers in light of recommendations made by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) amid rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
It was declared mandatory that all the passengers traveling to Karachi would undergo rapid Covid test before exiting Jinnah International Airport.
As per the NCOC rules, the passengers will be shifted to a quarantine facility if they are tested positive. The infected passenger then would be re-tested for COVID 19 on the eight-day. In case of testing positive for the second time, the passenger would be shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Pakistan’s first coronavirus case, a returning pilgrim from Iran, was diagnosed on February 26, 2020, in Karachi. He was quickly isolated and his contacts traced.
COVID Situation in Pakistan
At least 108 people lost their lives due to the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection while 4,198 fresh cases have reported in the last 24 hours, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said Thursday.
According to the latest figures from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the death toll has surged to 18,537 while the number of confirmed cases stands at 845,833.
In the past 24 hours, as many as 4,397 patients have recovered from the deadly virus while the total recoveries stand at 743,124. As of Thursday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 84,172, and the positivity rate recorded at 9.03 percent.
At least 288,680 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 312,522 in Punjab 121,728 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 77,065 in Islamabad, 22,900 in Balochistan, 17,583 in Azad Kashmir, and 5,355 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Moreover, 8,809 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,691 in Sindh, 3,497 in KP, 699 in Islamabad, 494 in Azad Kashmir, 240 in Balochistan, and 107 in Gilgit Baltistan.
The health facilities across the country conducted 46,467 coronavirus detection tests, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 12,056,98 since the first case was reported.
