In Afghanistan, the health ministry has warned that two critical weeks are ahead as the war-torn country recorded its biggest one-day rise of new coronavirus cases, triggered by a continued surge of transmission in Kandahar.
Over the past 24 hours 172 new cases were confirmed, bringing to total number of infections to 1,703. Of the new cases, 27 were confirmed in the country’s capital, Kabul, pushing the total number of infections 479 in what has become Afghanistan’s worst affected area. A lockdown is being implemented in Kabul in a bid to contain spread of the virus.
Afghanistan has also recorded its biggest one-day rise in casualties to Covid-19, as seven patients died overnight, taking the total number of deaths to 57.
Herat, which had been worst affected area of the country for weeks, has recorded 33 new cases, bringing the total to 423. The region shares a border with Iran, the Middle East country worst affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, and thousands of Afghan migrants poured back from Iran in February and March.
In Kandahar, transmissions continued to surge as 21 new cases confirmed.
Speaking in Kabul on Monday, Wahidullah Mayar, a health ministry spokesman, said that the next two weeks would be “very critical” and asked the nation to stay at home. But with streets crowded with people and vehicles, experts fear fighting the virus will be challenging.
Meanwhile the UN mission in Afghanistan said on Monday that more than 533 civilians, including 152 children, were killed in fighting in the first quarter of 2020. The UN said the new figures highlighted “the urgent need for all parties to the conflict to do more to protect civilians from harm, especially in view of the looming threat posed to all Afghans by COVID-19.”
