Sixth coronavirus case reported in Pakistan.

Byline: Faiza Ilyas | Ikram Junaidi

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's sixth case of coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported in Karachi on Thursday.

According to the Sindh health department, the 69-year-old patient has a history of travel to Iran and returned to the country on Feb 25.

'He was being monitored by the health department and was tested today when the symptoms showed up. Now, we have three cases of coronavirus in Sindh,' said Meeran Yousuf, the media coordinator to the health minister.

The patient had been admitted to the isolation ward of a government hospital and his family 'quarantined' at home, he said, adding that a health official would monitor the health of the family periodically.

The three other coronavirus patients belong to Gilgit-Baltistan.

The elderly patient with a history of travel to Iran has been admitted to a Karachi hospital

Confirming the latest case, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said in a tweet: '6th case of #coronavirus in Pakistan is confirmed. The patient is in clinically stable condition in Sindh and is being well taken care of.'

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting was held in IslamAabad to review the situation regarding coronavirus in the country. It was attended by the authorities concernAed and Chief Minister of Sindh of Syed Murad Ali Shah also participated through video link, Executive DirAector (ED) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Maj Gen Dr Aamir Ikram told Dawn.

The meeting decided that all possible steps would be taken to prevent the spread of the disease and raise public awareness so that the people could be saved from the virus, he said.

Also in the day, a meeting of the Emergency Core Group reviewed coronavirus preparedness and response measures. The meeting was told that since the virus had emerged as a threat to people of Pakistan, over 760,000 incoming travellers had been screened at points of entry.

The meeting was chaired by SAPM Dr Mirza and attended by federal Health Secretary Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, heads of health institutions and other senior officials.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, the meeting was told that on Wednesday alone 21,360 incoming travellers were screened.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mirza said a coordinated effort was under way to meet the challenge posed by coronavirus and the National Action Plan was being implemented to face the challenge.

He called upon all those involved...