Pakistan's foreign ministry says that China has sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies to help with the fight against the spread of the coronavirus in the nation of 220 million people.
An emergency hospital is set up with nine hundreds beds for coronavirus infected patients, in the Expo Center, Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, March 26, 2020. The virus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
On Friday, China sent ventilators, masks and other medical equipment to the South Asian country, and a previous shipment of masks was sent. Pakistan has closed its borders with both Iran and Afghanistan, but has come under widespread criticism for its initial lax response to the virus. As of Saturday, the government still had not ordered mosques closed nationwide, instead relying on recommendations to worshippers not to gather for weekly Friday prayers. Pakistani officials are reluctant to defy local hardcore Islamic leaders, who can whip up mobs to protest any perceived insults to religion. Some of these clerics have taken to social media to urge the faithful to fill the mosques, saying it is their religious obligation.
In Iran, officials have repeatedly insisted they have the outbreak under control, despite concerns it could overwhelm the country’s health facilities. The North African country is governed by rival authorities based in Tripoli and eastern Libya whose forces have been battling over the capital for nearly a year.
Another major area of concern is Yemen, where rebel Houthis have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition for five years. The war has killed more than 100,000 people, displaced millions and driven the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
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