At least 500 Pakistani students are reportedly stuck in the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan. In a recorded video, the students have requested the government to rescue them just like embassies of other countries are helping their citizens. “If even one of us gets affected, the others will be in danger,” said Hafsah Tayab, one of the students stuck in Wuhan.
The Senate passed on Monday the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018, women are entitled to a maternity leave of six months and men will get a paternity leave of three months. Mothers and fathers may get further three- and one-month optional leaves but those will be unpaid, it says. The employer won’t be allowed to terminate the services of an employee for seeking leave under the provisions of the bill.
A speeding SUV belonging to the US Embassy hit a car carrying six people in Islamabad on Sunday, killing one woman and injuring five. The deadly accident happened on Margalla Road near Faisal Avenue Chowk when the speeding Toyota Land Cruiser hit the Suzuki Khyber car from behind. One of the vehicles might have driven through a red light.
Another suspected case of Coronavirus has emerged in Multan, increasing the number of cases to five in Pakistan. Two samples from Multan have been sent to Hong Kong for confirmation as there are no laboratories in Pakistan equipped to diagnose the pathogen. Test reports are expected to arrive in the next 24 to 48 hours. One of the two suspected coronavirus patients in Multan is a Pakistani national.
An 18-year-old man was arrested in Gujranwala on Saturday for the rape of a seven-year-old boy at a madrassa in Majeed Colony. A case was registered against him at the Satellite Town police station. The child was found at the madrassa but the suspect initially managed to escape. He was found by the police later as the CCTV cameras in the madrassa recorded the rape.
Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s health, revenue and sports ministers were fired over disciplinary violation . KP Governor Shah Farman issued a notification earlier on Sunday, removing Sports Minister Mohammad Atif Khan, Health Minister Shehram Khan Tarakai and Revenue and Estate Minister Shakeel Ahmed. He said talks with coalition partners had been successful and soon the agreement would be acted upon.
As the threat of Coronavirus looms in Pakistan, there are no laboratories in the country equipped to diagnose the deadly virus. Special Assistant to the PM on Health DR Zafar Mirza has said that Pakistan has approached the authorities in China and The Netherlands to help confirm suspected cases of passengers arriving in the country. Pakistan has already started screening passengers at four airports of the country.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak in China, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has halted flights of China Southern Airlines to Pakistan until January 31. The decision was made in a meeting of the Lahore airport management with the Chief Operating Officer Chaudhary Nazir in the chair. The meeting decided that a fully equipped medical staff will check all the passengers coming from China with thermal scanners. A medical expert from Meo Hospital will oversee the operations.
A Chinese man suspected to have contracted the coronavirus has been admitted to a hospital in Multan. 40-year-old, Feng Fen, had returned to Pakistan from Wuhan 10 days ago and was shifted from Chinese camp in Industrial Estate to Nishtar Hospital. However, National Institute of Health (NIH) has released a statement saying the case does not seem to be coronavirus and patient is stable.
The Foreign Office has confirmed that US President Donald Trump will not visit Pakistan during his tour to India next month. President Trump “wants an exclusive visit to Pakistan which is not linked to any other visit in the region because Pakistan has its own distinct place,” FO Spokesperson Aisha Farooqi said at the weekly media briefing.