A picture of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Photo: file

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday announced it was sealing its borders with Afghanistan and Iran for two weeks as the coronavirus crisis deepens in the region, with Iran reporting the second-highest number of deaths in the world from the infection and Pakistan's tally of affected cases rising to 21.

A notification from the interior ministry announced that Pakistan will close its western borders with Iran and Afghanistan from March 16 for a period of two weeks after directives were received from the National Security Committee.

The pandemic has raised alarm bells across the globe with Iran reporting 500 death from the novel virus while more than 1,000 have died in Italy.

Pakistan on Friday announced closing all schools, colleges and universities in the country till April 5, 2020 as reported cases of the pandemic rose to 21 in the country.

Sindh confirms one more coronavirus case, tally in Pakistan rises to 21

Health authorities in Sindh confirmed one more coronavirus case in the province on Friday. The confirmation was made in a post on social networking platform Twitter by the provincial Health and Population Welfare Department.

"#Sindh Health Department has a new case of #CoronaVirusPakistan. The 52-year-old patient arrived from Islamabad 2 days ago & was tested positive today. This brings the total number of cases to 15 in Sindh, out of which 13 are in stable condition & 2 have been discharged," the department said.