Karachi reports cases of coronavirus variant 'B1135': Sindh health minister

• The coronavirus variant "B1135" has been detected in Karachi.
  
• The provincial minister fears that the variant can rapidly spread in Sindh, especially Karachi.
  
• Minister says inter-city bus service will be shut down from tomorrow to curb the spread of the virus till May 30.
  

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Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho on Thursday said that along with the UK variant, a variant 'B1135' has also been detected in the coronavirus cases reported in Karachi.

The minister said that out of 22 coronavirus cases that were investigated, the UK variant was confirmed in 18 cases, while the B1135 variant was confirmed in two cases.

Read more: Coronavirus update: Pakistan reports 5,480 new infections, with 9.6% positivity rate

She regretted that despite launching a request with the government several times, the federation did not quarantine the passengers coming from the UK.

The provincial minister feared that the new variant can rapidly spread in Sindh, especially Karachi.

She noted that inter-city bus services will be shut down from tomorrow to curb the spread of the virus till May 30.

Pechucho reiterated the need for implementation of coronavirus protocols, saying that people should be careful, wear masks and maintain social distance.

Read more: UK coronavirus variant has significantly higher death rate: study

Pakistan's coronavirus positivity ratio jumped to 9.6% on Thursday after the country reported over 5,000 new infections.

According to the official data provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 5,480 people tested positive for the coronavirus, after 57,013 tests were conducted across the country.

The total tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 815,711, with 281,385 cases and 4,629 deaths reported in Sindh so far.