Pakistan suspends China flights till March 15 over virus scare

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national carrier suspended all flights to China until March 15, government officials said on Monday, in response to a coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed at least 2,442 people in China and spread to some 28 other countries and territories.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operates two flights to Beijing a week, while Air China and China Southern Airlines each operate 10 weekly flights between China and Pakistan.

“PIA has suspended flight operations to Beijing till March 15 over the coronavirus scare,” Abdul Sattar Khokhar, senior joint secretary at the Aviation Division of Pakistan, told Arab News.

Coronavirus cases have been on the rise around the world in recent weeks.

Iranian state TV reported on Monday that the outbreak had killed at least 12 people. Afghanistan declared a state of emergency in the western province of Herat on Monday after health officials confirmed the country’s first case of coronavirus in a region that shares a border with Iran. South Korea on Monday reported 231 more cases of the virus, bringing the nation’s total to 833 cases and seven deaths.

There are more than 79,000 cases globally, and 27 deaths outside mainland China.

Pakistan and Turkey temporarily closed their borders with Iran on Sunday. Islamabad is also screening passengers at the country’s four major airports and all health facilities have been put on high alert.

Tens of thousands of medical workers have been fighting to contain the spread of the coronavirus in China, believed to have first surfaced in a seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei.

While the United States, Australia, India, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom have flown their citizens out of Wuhan, Pakistan has refused to evacuate its 1,100 nationals, fearing the spread of the virus in the country.

“There is no change in our position,” Sajid Hussain Shah, a spokesperson for the Pakistani ministry of health, told Arab News. “We will evacuate our citizens from Wuhan when the authorities deem it suitable and in the national interest.”