Afghan Government Provides 50,000 Testing Kits For Coronavirus

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health has prepared to provide 50,000 testing for the coronavirus as the number of reported cases is on the rise in the country.

The government has also allocated $25 million for the Public Health Ministry to combat the virus, $18mn of which are allocated to specific areas and provincial-based needs.

The current plan is to tackle for cases up to 1,000, said head of government hospitals Nizamuddin Jalil.

“If the number goes up, we should move on to our next plan. This plan was presented to the president and donors who have partnered with us,” said Jaill.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Republic of China, and World Health Organization have pledged financial and technical cooperation with Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Herat was the first province where the first positive coronavirus case was reported. The patient had recently traveled from Iran, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East with 6,000 confirmed cases and 145 deaths.

Afghanistan fears rapid spread of the virus as up to 15,000 refugees are returning from Iran on a daily basis.