LANDI KOTAL/BUNER: The health officials deputed at Torkham border transferred a Pakistani national, who was returning from Afghanistan, to isolation ward in Services Hospital Peshawar after he was detected with fever and difficulty in breathing during scanning for coronavirus at the border point the other day.

Officials said that 50-year-old Mohammad Asghar had gone to Afghanistan some three weeks ago. He returned on March 11 via Torkham border where he underwent thermal scanning by the health staff.

They said that Mr Asghar had high fever when checked by the thermal gun and also had difficulties in breathing after which he was immediately shifted to isolation ward in Services Hospital Peshawar.

The suspected coronavirus patient hails from Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but he is currently residing in Islamabad.

50-year-old Pakistani national detected with high fever and difficulty in breathing at Torkham during scanning

Dr Qasim Afridi, an official of the tribal districts health directorate, told Dawn that Mr Asghar would undergo necessary medical checkup and would be duly treated if tested positive for coronavirus.

He said that an Afghan national Mohammad Kamran, 23, was sent back to Afghanistan from Torkham after he was found having high fever and problems in breathing.

Immigration officials said that Kamran had returned from China to Afghanistan on February 14 and was coming to Pakistan via Torkham border on January 17. His family is residing in Hayatabad, Peshawar.

His travel data showed that he stayed in Peshawar for at least one-and-a-half months and then went back to Afghanistan and was returning to Pakistan again on March 11.

It was not, however, known if the health authorities in Peshawar had approached his other family members in Hayatabad for scanning.

Health officials had earlier claimed to have scanned around 270,000 people, both Afghans and Pakistani nationals, at Torkham border as part of their drive to contain spread of coronavirus.

In Buner, the district administration in collaboration with health department on Thursday decided to set up 30 beds coronavirus care centre with 16-member health staffers at Shaheed Fatih Khan Memorial Hall at Dr Qadeer Khan Colony Daggar.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Khalid Khan and DDAC chairman Syed Fakhar Jihan Bacha held a meeting with health officials in this regard at the conference hall in Daggar.

DHO Dr Fazal Hadi, DMS of district headquarters hospital Dr Farukh Syar and TMOs were present on the occasion. The meeting discussed the issue in detail and agreed to place coronavirus suspected patients at the isolated centre for better treatment and care.

The meeting decided that the virus checking point would be set up at Ambela entry point to scan the passengers coming from Karachi as preventive measures.

Meanwhile, DDAC chairman Syed Fakhar Jihan Bacha held meeting with the representatives of paramedics and asked them to support the preventive steps to control outbreak of coronavirus in the district.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2020