Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan said on Friday that a decision about the return-transportation of some 750 Pakistanis, who are stranded in the United States because of the coronavirus-related suspension of flights, is expected “very soon”.

“The issue of stranded Pakistanis is one of the key priorities for the (Pakistan) government, for the embassy and our consulates across the United States,” the Pakistani envoy said in an interview with Pakistan Television. “We are in touch with Islamabad and we are working on various options and we hope to have a decision very soon,” he said.

Ambassador Khan said the Pakistan Embassy and the four consulates across the United States were doing their best to help the stranded Pakistanis who are anxious to return home. “Prescription medicines have been arranged for those who had run out of them, visa extensions secured for those with expired visas, and financial help extended to those who couldn’t afford to stay here any longer.”

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Overall, he said that Pakistani-American community members who are concentrated in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts — the states worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic — were “disproportionately affected”.

The embassy and the consulates have been keeping in close touch with the community members, with Consul General Ayesha Ali in New York leading the effort, to coordinate help for those who have lost jobs as a result of the lockdown.

Consular facilities and other services were being extended to the community, and Ambassador Khan said the Pakistan Embassy has been kept open despite the fact that other embassies in Washington have remained closed.

The ambassador also expressed his “deepest” condolences to the families of Pakistani-Americans who lost their lives and prayed for the early and full recovery of those who are affected by this deadly disease.

Responding to a question about casualties among Pakistani-Americans, he gave no figures, saying it was a “rapidly evolving situation.”

According to the latest figures, there are 677,570 coronavirus cases in the United States with the death toll at 34,617.