Pakistan on Friday has detected the first confirmed case of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India, the federal health ministry said on Friday.

A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health, said in a statement that the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad shared results of whole-genome sequencing of SARS CoV-2 samples collected during the first three weeks of May 2021.
"The sequencing results confirmed detection of seven cases of B.1.351 (South African variant) and one case of B.1.617.2 (Indian variant). This is the first in-country detection of the latter strain," the statement said.
The health ministry said this was the first case of its kind in Pakistan.
Ministry further said that according to the protocols, the field epidemiology and disease surveillance division and the district health administration of Islamabad are conducting contact tracing of all positive cases.
He said that following the continuous reports of strains emerging globally, the need for guidelines, use of masks and vaccination is becoming apparent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month named B.1.617.2 (Indian variant) a globally worrying variant.
To prevent the spread of the B.1.617 variant in Pakistan, the NCOC had last month placed India in the category C list, banning entry of passengers from the country through air and land routes.
The WHO had said that B.1.617.2 was first reported in India last year while the first type of identification was made in October 2020.
The virus later spread to other countries and several governments around the world restricted movement with India.

Muharram 8: High security in Punjab, over 58,000 cops deployed
- 4 hours ago

The unbearable obviousness of AI fitness summaries
- 2 hours ago

Pakistani cricket team's fielding coach resigns
- 17 minutes ago

Alert issued regarding water flow, flooding in rivers
- 2 hours ago

Five-storey building collapses in Karachi, 4 bodies recovered from rubble
- 4 hours ago

Mobile service to be suspended amid security concerns in Peshawar
- 4 hours ago

'Squid Game 3' achieves record-breaking success on Netflix
- an hour ago

Joby delivers first aircraft to Dubai as air taxi service nears launch
- 2 hours ago

Facebook is starting to feed its AI with private, unpublished photos
- 2 hours ago

Pakistan, Azerbaijan agree to strengthen bilateral relations
- an hour ago

Tauqeer Nasir removed from chairmanship of Punjab Film Censor Board
- 3 hours ago
India plans $230m drone incentive after Pakistan conflict, sources say
- a minute ago