Pakistani Woman infects 9 People with COVID-19 after Wedding

A Pakistani woman infected nine people with COVID-19 at a wedding ceremony in Karachi.

It was reported that the nine people are all part of the same family. They had attended a wedding where the woman was also in attendance.

The woman had travelled from Saudi Arabia and was diagnosed with the deadly virus.

During the wedding, she met with the family, subsequently infecting all of them.

After the function ended, the family members started displaying symptoms of Coronavirus. They underwent testing and the results came back positive.

The family has now been taken to hospital for treatment.

The authorities explained that other family members are self-isolating at home, adding that they were searching for all the people who had attended the wedding as they could be potential carriers of COVID-19.

Repeated calls for social distancing have been made. In a bid to stop the spread, partial lockdowns in certain areas have been imposed.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide on health, Zafar Mirza said:

“I am very hopeful, if we practice social distancing, we will be able to control the pandemic.”

Despite there being partial lockdowns, the PM stated that a total lockdown cannot be imposed.

He explained: “Pakistan cannot afford to impose a total lockdown. Twenty-five per cent of the people in the country lives below the poverty line.

“What will happen to them if I go ahead with the lockdown?”

PM Khan went on to say that if the situation in Pakistan had escalated as it had in Italy and China, he would have considered a lockdown.

“Let me tell you what a lockdown is. A lockdown means putting a curfew and restricting people to their homes with the military on the streets.

“Ninety per cent of the people who get coronavirus recover after a few days.

“If the virus spreads, it is the elderly and the weak who will suffer and will have to go to the hospitals.”

PM Khan said that the spread of COVID-19 could be reduced if people stopped attending social gatherings and weddings.

“If people start celebrating weddings and attending large functions, they will put the elderly at risk.

“It is your responsibility to exercise caution and restraint. This is why we have closed down malls, schools and universities.

“I take pride in my nation; we have braved many problems and crises. The Pakistani nation has united to fight challenges whenever the country has been faced with them.

“A nation’s character shines through in hard times and I saw my nation’s character in the 2005 earthquake and the 2010 floods.”