Afghan Health Ministry warns of catastrophe if lockdown disregarded

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Heavy traffic was seen in Kabul despite the Health Ministry’s persistent calls for people to stay home and avoid appearing in large numbers to curb the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 is nearing 5,000 cases, and spokespeople warn that there will be a catastrophic “human tragedy” if the people do not act on the suggested health guidelines.

Some residents meanwhile said that poverty and economic hardships force them to come out and work.

“His Excellency, the governor of Kabul, has a good life. He has good things to eat and drink. The president is not providing us a phone number, where we can lodge our complaints,” said Rahila Karimi, a resident in Kabul.

“People are grappling with poverty and other miseries, how long can they spend in lockdown?” asked Ramin, a resident in Kabul.

Kabul governor Mohammad Yaqoub, referring to the traffic in Kabul, on Tuesday urged people to abide by the health guidelines.

“We should also understand the problems of the people, there should be a mechanism for this situation, but it shouldn’t be handled in the way we see it today,” said Kabul governor Mohammad Yaqoub, referring to the traffic.

“The situation that I saw today in the city, as a representative of the health sector, I will not be able to prevent a potential catastrophe,” said Khoshal Nabizada, an official of Health Ministry.

But, some vendors meanwhile accused police of “double standard” in dealing with the lockdown rules.

“If you pay them (police), the let you to work, if you don’t pay them, they mess with your goods,” said Noorullah, a vendor in Kabul.

“When we pay one of them (police), he leaves us, but new ones come and ask for money,” said Samiullah, a vendor.

The Ministry of Public Health announced on Tuesday that in the past 24 hours 281 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Afghanistan, bringing the total to 4,963.

The new cases have been reported in Kabul (84), Balkh (33), Wardak (28), Nangarhar (20), Badghis (20), Takhar (14), Kandahar (13), Herat (12), Panjshir (12), Paktia (1), Nimruz (1), Helmand (7), Ghor (2), Baghlan (1), Samangan (1), Jawzjan (4), Faryab (1), Kunduz (5), Zabul (5), Parwan (4), Kapisa (3), Badakhshan (3), Sar-e-Pul (5) and Uruzgan (1).

Five people have died in the past 24 hours, bringing total deaths to 127.

The total number of recoveries is 610.

Kabul is still one of the worst hotspots for COVID-19– in the past 24 hours out of 212 cases 84 were positive. So far 18,098 people have been tested in the country. (TOLOnews)