On Monday, the Deputy Commissioner of Khairpur district in Sindh province of Pakistan had suspended 6 government officials working in the Revenue Department after they took a selfie with their colleague who had been infected by the deadly Wuhan coronavirus.
6 officials of Sindh revenue dept suspended for taking a “selfie” with a #coronavirus patient. pic.twitter.com/AYmlhkMEYZ
— Sameer Mandhro (@smendhro) March 22, 2020
The patient identified as one Irshad Ali Rajper had reportedly travelled to Iran for pilgrimage and then returned to Pakistan after a month’s stay. The 6 government officials, namely, Abdul Rashid Bhaio, Lal Dino Mallah, Imtiaz Ali Goopang, Piar Ali Wassan, Punhal Wassan and Kareem Dino Wassan had gone to the house of their infected colleague where they took the picture.
“By that time, he was not showing any symptoms of the virus, neither had complained about any unwellness. As a trend these days, all the six colleagues and the host took a selfie. A few of them later posted that picture on their social media account. When the man tested positive a few days ago, all those who were in contact with him were being spotted and isolated”, a government official was quoted as saying.
Recently, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan said that the country could not afford a nationwide lockdown, despite 750 Pakistanis tested positive for the deadly Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). The inability to implement drastic measures to contain the pandemic has largely to do with Pakistan’s crippling economical condition.
Thousands of Pakistanis who returned home from Iran were stuck in filthy, unhygienic quarantine camps with no medical care or sanitation facilities. The story came to light after a series of videos posted by Pakistani citizens who were quarantined at Taftan camp on the border with Iran had gone viral. The pilgrims at a camp could be seen not following guidelines of social distancing at a crowded camp.
On Sunday, the authorities in Palestine informed that two of its citizens with recent travel to Pakistan had tested positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus. As such, the two infected patients became the first case of COVID-19 in the Gaza strip, one of the most densely populated areas with poverty levels as high as 50%.
