Name: Exclusive: Half of UK’s imported Covid-19 infections in June are from Pakistan
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Exclusive: Half of UK’s imported Covid-19 infections in June are from Pakistan

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Half of Britain’s imported coronavirus cases originate&nbsp;from Pakistan, The Telegraph understands, amid calls for tougher quarantine checks on arrivals from "high risk" countries.Data from Public Health England (PHE) shows that 30 cases of coronavirus in people who have travelled&nbsp;from Pakistan since June 4, which is understood to represent half of the incidents of imported infection.More than 65,000 people have travelled to Britain on 190 flights since March 1 from Pakistan, which is reporting 4,000 Covid-19 cases a day, and has seen a new spike in the disease after easing its lockdown measures. Most are thought to have UK passports.With up to two flights a day from Pakistan, there have been reports of some arrivals almost instantly going to hospital for intensive care, amid concerns that the influx has led to localised clusters.Officials are understood to be worried it could lead to a backlash against Britain, through it creating a backdoor for infections into Europe as the UK prepares to open air bridges.Officials are concerned that countries like Portugal may be importing cases from Brazil, but does not wish to say so explicitly because of our own colonial links."We can't take people off the list because they might import cases from their former colonies", said a Whitehall official. "Diplomatically we have to rate [them] to see actual uncontrolled spread. Imagine if people said that about the UK with our links to the US. We'd&nbsp;be fuming"Bharat Pankhania, a quarantine expert at Exeter University’s medical school, said the Government needed to concentrate its resources on screening individuals from "high risk" countries rather than a blanket "light-touch" quarantine where no-one is tested or physically supervised in the community."As soon as a country reaches a set threshold, then special screening and tests are done on all individual arrivals at the border. If they are staying in Bath, for example, then the local public health director is alerted and they are subject to on-the-door checks by his or her team," he said."You also need to make it clear that this is a serious issue if you are coming from an at-risk country, and increase the penalties for breaches so that those who do [breach], go to prison and/or £10,000 fine."Concerns that passengers from Pakistan were spreading coronavirus saw one of the world's biggest long haul airlines suspend flights from the country this week.Dubai carrier Emirates suspended flights out of Pakistan after some 30 passengers on a June 22 flight to Hong Kong tested positive for Covid-19. Etihad and Fly Dubai also suspended flights out of Pakistan.This week, South Korea's government temporarily banned most people from Pakistan and Bangladesh from entering after it recorded increases in coronavirus cases from those countries.tested positive this week for Covid-19.British officials are understood to have repeatedly urged Pakistan to enact tougher controls on its flights as cases have grown.Pakistan International Airlines, the national carrier, said it had been flying direct to and from the UK since early April. At first irregular flights were organised according to demand to repatriate British and Pakistani nationals, with up to a dozen trips per week. In the past week the airline has resumed a more regular schedule flying daily to either London or Manchester.A spokesman said passengers were screened in Pakistan with heat sensors and had to wear masks. Anyone recording a high temperature during screening was not allowed on board.Officials estimate that at any one time there are some 100,000 British nationals&nbsp;in Pakistan, most of them dual nationals. Some 25,000 British nationals were repatriated from Pakistan between April 4 and May 13, almost all of them British Pakistanis.A Government spokesman said: "The new health measures at the border are informed by science, backed by the public and designed to keep us all safe.&nbsp;"We are seeing a high level of compliance and we expect this to continue as the vast majority of people will play their part to help stop the spread of this disease."CORRECTION: This article is based on PHE data relating to individuals who have travelled to the UK from Pakistan between June 4 and the article’s publication date:&nbsp;it does not cover the entire period of the pandemic, as readers may have inferred from it’s original headline and text wording, now amended.Related TopicsAdvertisementRelated TopicsWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

Half of Britain’s imported coronavirus cases originate&nbsp;from Pakistan, The Telegraph understands, amid calls for tougher quarantine checks on arrivals from "high risk" countries.Data from Public Health England (PHE) shows that 30 cases of coronavirus in people who have travelled&nbsp;from Pakistan since June 4, which is understood to represent half of the incidents of imported infection.More than 65,000 people have travelled to Britain on 190 flights since March 1 from Pakistan, which is reporting 4,000 Covid-19 cases a day, and has seen a new spike in the disease after easing its...

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By Charles Hymas

Charles Hymas

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Exclusive: Half of UK’s imported Covid-19 infections in June are from Pakistan

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