Army deployed at Taftan to screen pilgrims returning from Iran

Published March 13, 2020
PDMA establishes tent village comprising 2,500 tents in Taftan. — AFP/File
PDMA establishes tent village comprising 2,500 tents in Taftan. — AFP/File

QUETTA: A top-level meeting of the provincial government was informed on Thursday that a Pakistan Army medical battalion comprising doctors and other staff had been deployed at Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan and Hazarganji area to perform medical check-up of all pilgrims and businessmen returning from the neighbouring country to detect symptoms of coronavirus.

The Director General of Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Mr Imran Zarkoon, informed the meeting that the PDMA had established a tent village comprising 2,500 tents in Taftan in which around 2,376 pilgrims, out of 3,300 who recently returned from Iran, had been accommodated.

He said that fabricated rooms were being prepared on an emergency basis which would be used as isolation wards whenever needed.

The health secretary informed the meeting that 10 rooms and 50 beds wards were being set up in Sheikh Zayed Hospital’s hostel in Phase One and isolation wards were being set up in Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital.

Similar steps, he said, were being taken in Dalbandin, Chaman and Gwadar to provide medical check-up facilities to people coming from or going to Afghanistan while a quarantine facility would be set up for at least 1,500 people in Chaman.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Massacre again
Updated 01 Oct, 2023

Massacre again

If this monster is not vanquished at this stage, it will create a security nightmare of significant proportions.
A refuge no longer
01 Oct, 2023

A refuge no longer

SEPTEMBER has seen an alarming rise in the rounding up and detention of Afghan refugees. Pakistani authorities cite...
Whither justice?
01 Oct, 2023

Whither justice?

THE challenge is to ensure bestial tragedies are remembered. Two cases of femicide, involving men from Pakistan’s...
Moving forward
Updated 29 Sep, 2023

Moving forward

It is hoped that the ECP followed the set rules diligently while demarcating constituency boundaries.
Pipeline in stasis
Updated 30 Sep, 2023

Pipeline in stasis

If finding dollars to fund the scheme is difficult, alternative currencies can be used.
Playing in India
Updated 29 Sep, 2023

Playing in India

WITH visa issues resolved, and after slight alterations in travel plans, Pakistan’s cricket team finally touched...