Kabul: One-third of 500 random coronavirus tests in Afghanistan’s capital came back positive, health officials said Sunday, raising fears of widespread undetected infections in one of the world’s most fragile states.
Neighboring Iran, meanwhile, said it would reopen schools and mosques in some locations, even though the nation has been the regional epicenter of the pandemic since mid-February. The results of the random tests in the Afghan capital of Kabul are “concerning,” said Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mayar. Afghanistan has performed only limited testing so far — close to 12,000, with more than 2,700 confirmed infections, in a nation of 36.6 million. As more testing becomes available, the country’s confirmed infection numbers will likely rise sharply, said Mayar.
He urged residents to stay home. Kabul and most other cities are in lockdown, but compliance has not been widespread. The death toll — officially at 85 — could also be much higher. More than 250,000 Afghans returned home from Iran since the beginning of the year, fanning out across their country without being tested or quarantined. Anecdotal reports have emerged of dozens of returnees dying of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. (AP)
