HUNZA – Local administration has imposed a ban on hunting of seasonal birds in Hunza valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region over coronavirus fear.

According to local administration, ban on hunting of seasonal birds in Hunza has been imposed due to fear of possible transmission of novel coronavirus in the country as birds are migrating from mainland China in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The death toll in China from the coronavirus epidemic rose to 2,233 on Friday after 115 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak.

The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, according to a daily update from the Hubei health commission.

Around 75,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in China, and hundreds more in over 25 countries.