MoI puts ban on public gatherings over Coronavirus

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday called for closure of venues that attract large crowds including entertainment places, sports grounds, swimming pools, fitness clubs and wedding halls to slow the spread of the coronavirus – COVID-19.

The Interior Ministry warned legal action against those defying the order.

“In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the government committee on public relations has decided to ask the hotels, swimming pools, public bathrooms and sports complex to stop their activities where people gather in large numbers,” said Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said that no private labs or hospitals are allowed to undertake the checking of suspected or coronavirus patients.

“If the private hospitals and laboratories bring something under the name of PCR tests or kits, it is only aimed to deceive the people and collect their money. We do not accept this at any cost. At the moment, teams of the ministry of public health have gone to the sites to retake the tests from them (private hospitals) and issue them a warning,” said Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.

According to Ministry of Public Health, no positive case of coronavirus was reported in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.

Mayar stated that the Ministry of Public Health is striving to further boost the capacity of laboratories for testing coronavirus samples in Herat and Balkh provinces.

So far, 22 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the country.

Meanwhile, doctors at Blossom Hospital in Kabul launched a public awareness campaign to help people get acquaintance with the way to prevent spread of the virus. “We distributed over 5,000 face masks to the public from our own budget,” said Siyar Wafa, a doctor.

According to Ministry of Public Health, it has registered at least 340 suspected cases of coronavirus in 23 provinces of the country since the outbreak of the disease.

“We should keep some distance from each other to prevent further spread of the coronavirus,” said Habib Mustafa, a Kabul resident. (TOLOnews)