KABUL - President Ghani in a cabinet session on Thursday ordered the responsible government institutions to make preparations to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Afghanistan.
Previously, the Afghan government allocated $15 million to respond to the health emergency.
“The first clear need is to change the administration’s culture. Please avoid shaking hands and hugging,” said President Ghani.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Public Health is concerned about the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran.
According to the ministry, the spread of the coronavirus in Afghanistan is likely given the close proximity of Iran, which has recorded high incidents of infection.
“More than 50,000 of our compatriots who went to Iran are coming back. They endangered us, also they increase our fear, because the virus is spreading from there,” said Ferozuddin Feroz, minister of public health.
Based on the statistics of the Ministry of Public Health, 80 suspected cases of the coronavirus have been registered in Afghanistan in the last two weeks.
According to the officials, one out of the 80 cases of the virus is positive.
The ministry urged people to not attend the new year festivals in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
“People should limit their coming and going. All gatherings should be limited. I want my compatriots to not participate in the Nowruz festival. It benefits themselves, their families and the common people,” said Feroz.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Education said that schools in Herat and Mazar will start in April instead of March.
“We did not finalize it yet, because 15 days remain until the start of the school year. We will officially announce it in the upcoming week,” said Mirwais Balkhi, acting minister of education.
This comes as the Iran president, Hassan Rouhani confirmed to Reuters that the coronavirus has spread in almost all provinces of that country. (TOLO NEWS)