Governor of Pakistan province tests positive for coronavirus

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 210,000 with more than 3 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.

Pakistan

The governor of Pakistan’s second-most populous province has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Imran Ismail, the governor of Sindh Province, announced on April 27 results from a test he took the previous day came back positive. “I have just been tested Covid 19 positive… Inshallah will fight it out,” the 54-year-old governor wrote on Twitter.

Sindh Province, which includes the industrial and financial center of Karachi, has imposed a strict lockdown while the rest of Pakistan is under a partial lockdown.

Pakistan has been divided over whether to ease coronavirus restrictions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in the country on the evening of April 24.

Health officials have warned that tens of thousands of people in Pakistan are ignoring advice to stay home during Ramadan, raising fears that the coronavirus pandemic will spread further.

Pakistan has registered 13,915 positive coronavirus cases and 292 deaths, according to official numbers.

Tajikistan

A representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Tajikistan, where officials have not registered a single coronavirus case yet, says the Central Asian nation must be ready for the "worst-case scenario."

Galina Perfilyeva told RFE/RL on April 27 that although there was no coronavirus cases recorded officially in the former Soviet republic, Tajikistan may have people infected with the virus.

"I have always said that we are observing the situation in the world and we see that in many countries there is a big number of [coronavirus] cases that proceed without any symptoms and therefore nobody can say that everything is absolutely smooth in Tajikistan in that matter," Perfilyeva said, adding that although initial test results on COVID-19 in the country were negative, the results of the latest tests that were supposed to be processed in a lab in London have been pending as Tajikistan and many other countries have closed air links due to the pandemic.