LANDI KOTAL/TIMERGARA: A seven-member medical team has started checking of passengers entering Pakistan from Afghanistan at the Torkham border for the suspected coronavirus.

According to a statement issued from the office of Khyber deputy commissioner Mehmood Aslam Wazir, the team would check those suspected passengers who were suffering from flue, fever, cough and other chest infections. The team members would also collect travel data of the suspected patients.

Meanwhile, amid coronavirus threat, the Lower Dir health department conducted screening test of the Chinese nationals and their technical staff working on the Koto hydropower project in the district.

The health department’s focal person Dr Irshad Rughani told journalists on Friday that there had been no coronavirus-affected person in Dir. He said nine Chinese engineers working on the project district had travelled to China for participating in the New Year celebrations.

Dr Rughani said the screening test of rest of the Chinese nationals had been conducted with no sign of symptoms of the deadly virus. He said the DHQ hospital Timergara and THQ hospital Chakdara had established isolation wards for the suspected patients.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2020