Five K-P districts declared 'most sensitive' for novel coronavirus.

ABOTTABAD -- Amid the cacophony of global alarm bells over the China-originated novel coronavirus, the Pakistan government is also ramping up its defences against the deadly contagion which has infected thousands of people worldwide, triggering declaration of a global emergency by the World Health Organisation.

Though no confirmed case of the coronavirus - medically named 2019-nCoV - has been detected in Pakistan thus far, the government has taken a slew of preventive and precautionary measures. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has declared its five northern districts 'most sensitive' due to fear of the mysterious illness.

Administration officials identified these districts as Kohistan, Shangla, Battagram, Mansehra and Abbottabad. 'We are on high alert due to the movement of Chinese citizens in the region,' Altaf Hussain, the deputy commissioner of Battagram, told media.

'We're monitoring the situation and are coordinating with the federal and provincial governments.'

Hussain said around 112 Chinese nationals - including engineers, technical staff and labourers - are working on a CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] project in Battagram alone. 'Of them, 20 have gone home to celebrate the Chinese New Year festival with their families in China.'

They might not be returning soon as the Pakistan government has suspended all flights to and from China and delayed the opening of the only border crossing with its neighbour, he added.

The novel coronavirus originated in a wet market of Wuhan city, in the central Chinese province of Hubei which has been put under quarantine in an attempt to prevent the proliferation of the highly infectious viral disease.

Dr Gul Shehzad Khan, the district health officer...

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