KABUL (SW) – The health authorities on Tuesday reported multiple additional suspected cases of coronavirus in Herat, Ghor and Helmand provinces bordering Iran after confirming the first positive one here on Monday.
Dr. Nazeer Ahmad, a member of the coronavirus control committee in Herat, said the five new suspects, four men and a woman, recently returned from the Iranian city of Qom to Herat in Afghanistan. According to the health official, the blood samples of all suspected victims were brought from Herat to the capital Kabul for eventual detection.
On Monday, Ferozuddin Feroz, health minister, told a presser in Kabul that emergency has been declared in Herat province bordering Iran. He said the first victim with positive case of the virus is in stable condition, and held in isolation.
Governor of Ghor province, Ghulam Nasir, said one suspected case has been registered here, and the patient is under surveillance in the public hospital.
One more suspected case has been registered in Helmand province. Director public health, Abdul Ahad Haazim, said the patient is in isolation in the regional public hospital until the test results arrive.
The government has asked officials to launch a coronavirus control program with checkpoints at air ports, borders and dry ports, especially in the country's western provinces — Herat, Nimroz and Farah — which border Iran.
The coronavirus has sounded global alarm with China reporting 2,625 deaths from the outbreak on Monday and health experts are grappling to find a cure.
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