Decision not to bring back Pak students from Wuhan "tough but good", says Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told parliamentary leaders that the country does not have a single coronavirus case which was imported from China due to government's "tough but good" decision of not bringing back students stranded in Wuhan, the epicenter of the global pandemic.

"Pakistan's decision to not bring back students from Wuhan -- where the virus first emerged -- was a tough but good decision as not even one Covid-19 case was brought from China," he told parliamentary leaders via video link.

While not agreeing to a nation-wide lockdown, he said that the biggest challenge during lockdown if imposed will be to help daily-wage workers, DAWN reported.

Khan added that the government will "reassess and discuss and come up with solutions".

Opposing complete lockdown, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the country should not go towards a lockdown due to which the movement of transport vehicles would be stopped.

He added that villagers would suffer if the lockdown is imposed as the wheat harvesting season was currently underway.

He added that other sectors, including the supply and construction sectors, would also suffer losses.

Earlier on Wednesday, a man from Swabi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, making him the first patient of the virus from the city, Deputy Commissioner Shahid Mehmood confirmed.

The patient, who had returned from Dubai earlier this month, has been shifted to an isolation ward in a Lahore hospital.

Balochistan has reported five new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to government spokesperson Liaqat Shahwani, taking the province's total to 115.

All five of the patients had travelled to Balochistan from the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan.

Karachi has reported three new cases of coronavirus, taking the provincial tally to 413, said Meeran Yousuf, spokesperson for the Sindh Health Department.

Pakistan's tally of confirmed cases has also crossed 1,000 on Wednesday with 1,016 cases and seven deaths.

The Province of Sindh remains worst affected with 413 cases followed by Punjab with 312 cases, 115 cases in Balochistan, 82 in Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), 78 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 16 in national-capital Islamabad.