COVID-19: More than 12,000 Cases in Afghanistan

Deputy Health Minister Wahid Majroh said around 994 suspected samples of the coronavirus have been tested over the past day.
According to Majroh, the new cases are concentrated in Kabul (360), Herat (108), Balkh (50), Parwan (26), Takhar (24) and Kunar (14). Nine people tested positive in the provinces of Baghlan and Panjshir, eight in Ghor and Laghman, five in Nangarhar, two in Bamiyan and one each in the provinces of Kunduz and Farah.
One patient died in Herat and another one in Balkh during the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 227. The number of recovered patients went up to 1,138.
People not complying with quarantine
Thy government and the ministry all using all available facilities to combat the spread of Coronavirus and control the disease, said Majroh. However, this would be ineffective if the citizens remain uncooperative. “So far, the people have not cooperated enough… we are asking the people to take the health advice seriously.”
“We [Afghan citizens] will either stay at home or go to the hospital,” he said talking about the difficulty in getting them to follow the recommendations. People continue to break the daily curfew and not follow social distancing measures.
Majroh noted that the quarantine and the daily curfew would be extended for at least two more weeks and then will be gradually eased.
‘Don’t force us to enforce the law’
Yaqub Hayiari, governor of Kabul and chairman of the Coronavirus Committee in Kabul, also warned the people at the press conference: “Do not force the government to enforce the law on you. We urge citizens to abide by the law and take health advice seriously.”
Haidari added that since the cabinet’s decision of easing some measures, efforts have been made by the guilds to adjust their activities based on the timeslots available to them. They are still required to follow all the health recommendations and maintain basic hygiene, otherwise they will be closed.
The governor stressed that the country is not ready to reopen any educations institutions and they will follow the recommendations of the MoPH.