KABUL (SW) – The health ministry vowed to have put in place measures to safeguard against the coronavirus.
Ferozuddin Feroz, minister for public health, told a press conference in this connection that vigilant teams have been tasked to screen passengers at the air ports. He added that so far no case of the coronavirus infections has been registered.
Minister Feroz said the World Health Organization has been asked for help and support in this regard. He urged Afghan travelers who have been to China recently to report in case of potential infection so that they can been screened and treated before spreading the virus further.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a special government meeting on the Lunar New Year public holiday to warn that the spread of a deadly new virus is "accelerating". The country is facing a "grave situation" Xi told senior officials, according to state television.
The coronavirus has killed at least 41 people and infected almost 1,300 since its discovery in the city of Wuhan.
Travel restrictions have already hit several affected cities.
A coronavirus is a family of viruses which include the common cold. But this virus has never been seen before, so it's been called 2019-nCov, for "novel coronavirus".
New viruses can become common in humans after jumping across the species barrier from animals.
According to the BBC, there are now nearly 1,300 confirmed cases all across China, though most concentrated in those closest to Hubei.
China's neighbours in the Asia region are on high alert, however, with cases reported in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea and Nepal. There are also cases in the United States. The World Health Organization has not classed the virus as an "international emergency", partly because of the low number of overseas cases.
ENDS
