LIVE: Pakistan to partially open airspace tomorrow as COVID-19 tally reaches 171,666.

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI/PESHAWAR/LAHORE/QUETTA/ MUZAFFARABAD -- The novel coronavirus emerged in the central China city of Wuhan towards the end of last year and proliferated to almost the whole world within a couple of months. It's not the virulence or fatality, but the infectivity of the new virus - also known as SARS-CoV-2 - that has set off a global frenzy.

The Covid-19 respiratory illness caused by this mysterious contagion has so far infected more than 8.2 million people in 202 countries and territories of the world - and over 446,000 of them have died and counting.

Pakistan, despite its close proximity with China, remained coronavirus-free until February 26 when a young man from Karachi tested positive after returning from Iran - one of the worst-hit countries. After a brief hiatus following the first case, Covid-19 cases spiked as more pilgrims returning from Iran tested...