Afghanistan's health minister warned on Thursday that the arrival of 50,000 people from neighboring Iran over the past one week has put the country at a very high risk from the deadly coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference in Kabul, Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said that they cannot prevent the arrival of Afghans, but there are travel restrictions for foreigners arriving from China and Iran.
“We closed the border with Iran and suspended air travels for one day, but the next day more than 5,000 our compatriots were stranded at a very dire situation across the border,” Feroz said. “We couldn’t block them. They are our compatriots and we have to allow them however they are.”
Feroz said that between 3,000 to 5,000 people were arriving in Afghanistan from Iran.
Afghanistan confirmed its first case of coronavirus last week involving a patient in Herat province, who had been infected with the virus in Iran.
Feroz said that the virus is so small that it could pass through masks.