Chaman, Taftan borders remain closed to prevent coronavirus outbreak
Last updated on: 05 March,2020 01:37 pm
Chaman, Taftan borders remain closed to prevent coronavirus outbreak
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Chaman border with Afghanistan and Taftan border with Iran remained closed today (Thursday) in a wake of preventing deadly coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan.
According to details, only pilgrims have been allowed to cross the border however, they are being kept in quarantine for proper medical checkup.
Sources told that doctors are conducting screening of the passengers after passage of every 48 hours.
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.