Afghan cabinet approves plan to impose curfew

KABUL (Khaama Press): The Afghan cabinet approved a plan to impose curfew in Kabul city in a bid to combat and prevent the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

Senior Presidential Advisor Waheed Omar said the cabinet approved the curfew plan and the committee which has been assigned to implement the plan, will share the details of the plan.

The authorities have so far recorded 95 positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the country. An Afghan national was tested positive for the disease after returning home from the Saudi Arabia. According to a statement released by the Provincial Government in Nangarhar, Hazrat Bilal, a resident of Jalalabad city, was tested positive for coronavirus.

The statement further added that Bilal returned to Jalalabad city from Saudi Arabia 18 days ago and was tested for the disease three days earlier. Earlier, authorities have placed Kabul city with a population of more than 6 million people under stringent lockdown after few cases of coronavirus were detected here, as the war-wracked nation stepped up measures to halt the spread of the pandemic. The lockdown begins Saturday and will continue for at least three weeks, said Kabul Governor Mohammad Yaqub Haidari. Addressing a news conference, he stated that all Kabul residents must stay at home, avoid non-essential movements and avoid gatherings.

“All people should be ready to provide valid reasons such as health or security reasons if they leave their homes,” he said, “all sports places, wedding halls, shrines and public gathering places will be shut down”. The governor said that all buses should stop movements in the city. All stores, except grocery stores, should remain closed. Moreover, all government institutions in Kabul city and in the province–except the Ministry of Public Health and the municipality and security institutions–will be closed for at least three weeks, he said.

He added that the lockdown plan will be put in place because Kabul has a large population and the coronavirus is spreading. He says the lockdown will go into effect Saturday. It is estimated that over 25 million people will be infected with the coronavirus in Afghanistan and at least 16 million of them will show symptoms. But he said the spread can be prevented if measures are implemented.