The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) says at least 12 new positive cases of coronavirus have been registered in the Herat province.

The spokesman of MoPH, Wahidullah Mayar on Sunday said that around 70 suspected cases of coronavirus were recorded in Herat laboratories during the past 24 hours which 12 of them confirmed positive.

According to Mayar, of the 12 cases which were confirmed positive in the laboratories, three of them are from Nimroz province and the remaining are from Herat.

This comes as the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Afghanistan reaches to 349.

Officials in Greece on Sunday placed a second migrant camp near Athens under lockdown after an Afghan resident tested positive for the coronavirus, the migration ministry said.

As per AFP report, officials said the camp in Malakasa, some 38 kilometers (24 miles) northeast of Athens, had been placed under “full sanitary isolation” for 14 days, with no one allowed to enter or leave.

The ministry said the 53-year-old Afghan man, who has a prior ailment, had personally sought help with virus symptoms at the in-camp medical facility.

He was subsequently taken to an Athens hospital where he tested positive, and his family was quarantined.

A full screening of the camp is in process, the ministry said.

Among Greek migrant camps, where tens of thousands of asylum-seekers live in dire conditions, there is already an outbreak at a facility in Ritsona near Athens where 23 people have so far tested positive.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) says that an elder patient died of the coronavirus on early Sunday.

The spokesman of MoPH, Wahidullah Mayar in a press conference said that at least five patients recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours which the number reaches to 17 in the country.

“2595 suspected cases were registered in the laboratories of the country which 337 of them recorded positive,” Mayar said.

He noted that the new cases include 10 in Kabul, 10 in Herat, 8 in Kandahar, 3 in Paktia, 2 in Samangan, two in Balkh and one in Kapisa, Takhar and Zabul each.

Afghanistan has reported more than 300 confirmed COVID cases, with most cases in Herat.

Over the last month, thousands of Afghan migrants have returned to the country from neighbouring Iran, which has been severely impacted by COVID-19.

Several returnees have crossed over into the border province of Herat, which has since emerged as Afghanistan’s COVID-19 epicentre.

As the situation escalates, Indians in Afghanistan are worried about their safety and are wanting to return home.

They are stranded because of the travel restrictions in place—on 17 March, India prohibited flights from Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) says at least three patients have been recovered from coronavirus in Kabul and Logar provinces.

The MoPH stated that two infected patients who were in the provincial hospital of Logar for some time have been recovered.

It added that another patient has also been recovered from the coronavirus in Kabul.

This comes as the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country reaches to 337.

A 200-bed diagnostic clinic for treatment and care of the coronavirus patients with modern tools and equipments for the diagnosis of the coronavirus inaugurated in northern Balkh province as the number of cases increasing daily in Afghanistan.

Mohammad Es-haq Rahgozar, the Governor of Balkh said during the inauguration ceremony that the clinic is ready to be used.

while Doctor Mohammad Afzal Hadid the Chief of Balkh Provincial Council, Doctor Khalilullah Hekmati the Chief of Balkh Public Health and medical experts were present, the Governor of Balkh Province said: “It’s such a happy moment to witness the inauguration of a diagnostic clinic for coronavirus and ready to be used in Balkh Province, while the sample of patients suspected of coronavirus used to be sent to the center of Afghanistan which was time taking. fortunately today, with the inauguration of this clinic, in 7 to 8 hours the sample of coronavirus can be diagnosed.”

Following a surge in the number of positive cases of coronavirus in Kabul and the death of one person from the virus, the governor of Kabul said that the government will impose more restrictions in the city.

“We will arrest the violators and will put them in quarantine. We will also ask their employer to fine them,” said Yaqoub Haidari, the governor of Kabul.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, 10 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Kabul during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Kabul police headquarters the police will be more serious in enforcing the restrictions in the city.

Pakistan has announced that it will open border crossings with Afghanistan for four days to allow hundreds of stranded Afghan citizens to return home.

Thousands of Afghans including patients have been stuck in Pakistan after since the country closed borders with Afghanistan and Iran to stop the spread of coronavirus.

“At the special request of the Government of Afghanistan and based on humanitarian considerations, Pakistan has decided to allow the exit of Afghan nationals in Pakistan, wishing to go back to their country,” the Pakistani Foreign Office said, adding that the Torkham and Chaman border crossings will be opened for a specific period from April 6 to April 9 to facilitate Afghan nationals. “As a neighbour and in view of fraternal bilateral relations, Pakistan remains in abiding solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, particularly at this time of global pandemic,” it said.

Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal also confirmed Torkham and Speen Boldak crossings will be open from April 6 to April 9 for Afghans stuck in Pakistan due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. “We thank the Pakistani government for agreeing to this and are hopeful that an announcement about transit trade will be also made soon,” he wrote on Twitter.