Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said that the special flight operation brought back 20,000 Pakistanis from abroad and another 110,000 would be repatriated phase-wise.

In a televised briefing to the nation on Thursday, Dr Moeed said Pakistan would bring back another 7,500 people back home next week while extending the flight operations to more countries, he added.

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Dr Moeed Yusuf clarified that not all of the stranded Pakistanis being flown back to the country were testing positive for the coronavirus. He added that the government is in the process of talking to those countries from where 40 to 50 percent of the returning passengers had tested positive.

Yusuf said that it was not possible for the government to bring back all 110,000 registered people at once.

"The government cannot bring back all at once because it would need to test every Pakistani coming back. We are considering self-quarantine policy and if provinces agree, then we will be able to bring 13,000 to 14,000 people per week," Yusuf said.