‘Avoid movement and gatherings’

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar at a press conference in Kabul on Monday said that the number of the positive cases of COVID-19 will increase in the country in the upcoming days.

Mayar again urged people in Herat to avoid movement in the city, saying: “We want the same lockdown in Herat as in other cities in the world and it is very important.”

“If the people do not listen to the Ministry of Public Health and avoid gatherings and other activities in Herat, than we will face a disaster,” he said, adding: “The number of positive cases will increase in the country in upcoming days.”

“Coronavirus is not a joke and it must me be taken seriously,” said Mayar, who said “most of the country is not able to control the virus.”

On Sunday, the Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz told TOLOnews that six more positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in Afghanistan.

Three new cases were from Herat, two were in Farah and one in Ghor. With this, there are 40 cases total in Afghanistan.

This comes as the Ministry of Public Health on Sunday evening confirmed that a 40-year-old man in Balkh died of coronavirus three days ago.

Khalilullah Hekmati, head of Balkh’s public health directorate, said the result of the man’s coronavirus test came back positive today.

The man died in Chemtal district, in the northern province of Balkh, and his case is the only one to be reported so far in the province.

Agencies adds: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) late on Sunday said six more positive cases of coronavirus have been registered in Afghanistan, taking the number of patents to 40 across the country.

Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for ministry, said three of the new positive cases had been detected in Herat, two in Farah and one in Ghor.

A day earlier, Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said 97 suspected cases had been tested in the past 24 hours, with 10 found positive.

Of the recent positive cases, two have been found in Kabul, three in Herat, two in Zabul and one each in Kandahar, Balkh and Ghazni.

Ferozuddin said the two positive cases in Kabul involved diplomats who had been dispatched to Bagram Airbase for treatment.

He said 220 suspected cases, including two members of parliament, had been registered in the central capital.

The minister said the new suspected cases had surfaced in areas under Taliban’s control in Helmand, Farah, Kandahar and Kunduz provinces.

A day earlier, Afghanistan confirmed its first death from the coronavirus in northern Balkh province late on Sunday. (TOLOnews)