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Pakistan Converts Hundreds of Hotels Into Quarantine Centers

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has converted hundreds of hotels into temporary
   quarantinecenters, one of several urgent steps to ensure its
   traditionally ill-prepared public healthcare system can deal with the
   coronavirus pandemic.

   The rapid response, critics say,is unusualin the wake of limited
   resources facing the cash-strapped country.

   Islamabad'sclose ally,Beijing,has also stepped in to deliver critical
   medicalstaff and supplies to help in limiting theeffects of
   thepandemic.'¯

   Pakistani officials said Friday that the number ofconfirmed cases of
   coronavirushad risen to at least 1,300,andat least11people had died,
   since the country detected its first case a month ago.'¯

   The number of infectionsarethe highest in South Asia, though Pakistani
   officials insist the spread is "very slow" compared with rates in other
   countries.

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