Another coronavirus patient identified in Pakistan; total cases rise to 8

A 55-year-old man tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan on Monday, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to eight.

The new case was reported in Karachi, capital of Sindh province, where so far five cases have been detected.

Media coordinator to Sindh health minister Meeran Yousuf said the eighth COVID-19 patient had recently travelled to Syria via Qatar.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan. One of the COVID-19 patients in Karachi has recovered and was allowed to go home on Saturday.

The virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 3,500 lives and infected more than 100,000 across 100 nations and territories.

The World Health Organisation last week raised the global virus risk to maximum level after the outbreak spread to sub-Saharan Africa and stock markets around the world plummeted.