Pilgrims protest as screening for coronavirus underway at Taftan Border
Last updated on: 02 March,2020 06:25 pm
Screening of over 900 pilgrims underway at Taftan Border
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – In a wake of preventing deadly coronavirus outbreak, the screening process of over 900 pilgrims coming from Iran to Pakistan is underway at Taftan Border.
According to details, the authorities have placed more camps to host new 200 passengers at Pakistan House while their proper medical checkup is also being conducted to diagnose the disease. Meanwhile, enraged pilgrims staged protest and chanted slogans against the government, demanding to allow them to return their homes. Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stated that no one will be allowed to leave the camp without screening.
It is to be mentioned here that Taftan border between Pakistan and Iran remains closed for ninth day, suspending all types of business activities.
Afghanistan and Pakistan share long, porous borders with Iran. Millions of Afghan refugees currently live in the Islamic Republic -- raising fears that the virus could easily spread over the border.
Pakistan -- bordered by China to the north and Iran to the south -- also suffers the additional burden of having a lacklustre healthcare system following decades of under-investment by the state, leaving impoverished, rural communities especially vulnerable.
Balochistan in particular is woefully unprepared to handle a public health emergency after being beset for decades by an insurgency.
The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries, with more than 2,500 dead in China, and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.