MONITORING (SW) – At least dozens of officials at the Arg presidential palace have been infected with the novel coronavirus, sources said.
According to media reports, there is no evidence that President Ashraf Ghani himself is infected. His spokesman would not comment on whether the president had been tested.
An official at the palace said that most of the 40 people who tested positive work for the administrative wing of the president’s office, the National Security Council and the office of Mr. Ghani’s chief of staff. A second senior official confirmed that dozens had tested positive after hundreds of palace workers were tested more than a week ago. The official did not provide further details, but said those with confirmed infections were sent into quarantine, the New York Times reported.
Afghanistan has reported just under 1,000 cases of the virus so far. But those numbers certainly underestimate the spread, officials say, since testing has been extremely limited. The country has conducted only about 7,000 tests, it added.
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