GILGIT: No new coronavirus case has been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, according to Home Secretary Mohammad Ali Randhawa.Dr Shah Zaman, the focal person for coronavirus in GB, also confirmed that presently there was no Covid-19 patient in the region. He said that all patients of coronavirus in the region had recovered.

He said that three coronavirus cases were reported in GB 11 days ago. He said that no new case was reported in the region during the last two days. He said that 300 coronavirus tests were being conducted daily. He added that samples from suspected patients, tourists and travellers were being taken.”We can’t say that GB is free of coronavirus, however, at this moment there is no active coronavirus case in GB and all patients have recovered,” said Dr Shah Zaman. He added that Covid-19 vaccination was underway in the region.

He said that GB could be declared free of coronavirus if more than 80 per cent residents of the region were vaccinated.

“GB people are still vulnerable to the virus as travellers including local passengers and tourists from other cities frequently visit the region without conducting coronavirus tests. There is a threat of transmission of the virus from travellers,” said Dr Shah Zaman.

He advised the travellers and tourists to conduct Covid-19 test before visiting GB or quarantine themselves for specific period after arriving in the region as precautionary measures.

The first Covid-19 patient in GB was a woman, who was confirmed infected with the virus in March 2020.

Dr Shah Zaman said that the virus to most of the patients was transmitted by travellers. Last year government restricted travel of to GB to prevent transmission of the virus, but the travellers started getting fake clearance reports that aggravated the situation, he said.

He said that the first Pakistani healthcare provider, who died of coronavirus, was Dr Usama from GB.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2021