Image Source: TRIBUNE

They have also begun to trace nearly 8,000 pilgrims who recently returned to the country from Iran.

The authorities have kept more than 200 of the pilgrims in quarantine at the Taftan border and have stepped up scanning measures at airports and other border crossings, including in western Afghanistan, said government health adviser Zafar Mirza.

On Wednesday, a young man from Karachi tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed case in Pakistan. Shortly after, another case was confirmed. Both of them had returned from Iran.

Pakistan on Thursday announced to suspend all flights to Iran, the new hotbed of coronavirus epidemic, as authorities scrambled to screen hundreds of people who had recently arrived from Tehran.