Not enough COVID-19 testing equipment at borders: Experts

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: A number of health experts have said that medical equipment to identity COVID-19 patients is lacking in border areas, and those travelers returning from abroad should take hygiene and safety measures seriously.

“We must start the screening process of all suspected people across the country; currently, this is not happening,” said Mohammad Nawroz Haqmal, a health expert in London.

Meanwhile Residents in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul have stressed the need for increased safety measures and hygiene to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “The government should close the parks,” said Zahidullah, a resident in Kabul.

“It’s a very dangerous situation. If someone coughs, it can spread to other people,” said Hassan Khan, a resident in Kabul.

“If a person (acts in accordance with the recommended health measures), he is serving the public good for all Afghanistan,” said Ali Sajjad Tahiri, a resident in Kabul. Over the past few months, 100,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Iran, which is a hotspot for the COVID-19 virus. Most of these refugees then travel to remote areas in the country.

But the Afghan Ministry of Public Health only provides health tips, no screening, some say.

In response, Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, insists that the checking of suspects of COVID-19 is conducted according to international standards.

“It’s impossible to take samples from each patient, I thoroughly study statistics from other areas of the world,” said Mayar.

This comes after the Ministry of Public Health on Saturday announced that “no positive case of the coronavirus was reported in the country in the last 24 hours,” but the results from 12 cases are still pending.

A ministry spokesman, Wahidullah Mayar, said that in total 449 suspected cases have been tested from 28 provinces (including the 12 still pending). He said that 24 cases have tested positive, and from these one has recovered. (TOLOnews)