Govt will provide 50k testing kits for Coronavirus

KABUL (TOLO News): As coronavirus cases are increasing in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health said it has made preparations to provide at least 50,000 testing kits for the virus.

The Afghan government has allocated $25 million for the Ministry of Public Health to cope with the virus.

The head of government hospitals at the Ministry of Public Health, Nizamuddin Jalil, said that $7 million of the aid package has been given to the ministry, while the remaining funds have been allocated to specific areas and for provincial-based needs.

“If the cases are up to a 1,000, with what preparations and requirements we have–if it goes up, we should move on to another plan. This plan was previously presented both in a meeting with the president and in the numerous meetings with the donors and health partners we had partnered with,” Jalil said.

“With these facilities and capacities we cannot control it at all, because the budget is very low and the sanitation is very low,” said Mahdi Rashekh, a parliament member.

Up to 15,000 refugees are returning from Iran on a daily basis, according to local officials. Covid-19 is rapidly increasing in Iran, according to news agencies reports, which say over 600 people have died there due to the new coronavirus.

Herat’s governor Abdul Qayum Rahimi said he was concerned that if measures are not taken quickly to deal with the problem, it will be too late.

The Ministry of Finance says consultations are ongoing about seeking international aid to combat the virus in Afghanistan.

“The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Republic of China, and World Health Organization have pledged financial and technical cooperation with Afghanistan,” said Abdullah Darman, the ministry spokesman.

Earlier, the Chinese embassy in Kabul told TOLOnews that Beijing is ready for health cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus in Afghanistan.