The acting Minister of Public Health (MoPH) Ahmad Jawad Osmani urged people to stay indoors and avoid gatherings in the upcoming Eid al-Adha week, and to avoid the mistake made during Eid al-Fitr.
On Thursday, the MoPH reported 201 new cases of Coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total in Afghanistan to 35,928 confirmed cases so far.
Addressing a press conference, Osmani said that hospitals were filled with infected COVID-19 patients, 10 days after Eid al-Fitr, since people did not heed the government’s instructions.
Stating that Afghanistan is still in the midst of the outbreak, the health minister urged the people to not repeat the same mistake.
“We are in a better position to fight the Coronavirus because the percentage of people infected in Afghanistan is declining. The number of people visiting hospitals has also decreased, but that does not mean that we will not follow medical instructions.”
Osmani said they are also preparing, in case a second wave of infections start.
Abdul Hakim Munib, head of the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs, urged the people to stay in.
“It does not matter whether a person goes to Eid prayers or not. It does not matter. It is important to follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Public Health,” Munib emphasized.
“Practice social distancing at places of worship, if you go to pray. But if someone feels threatened by Coronavirus, they can pray at home.”
The government’s labs were able to test 834 samples and new cases were found in the provinces of Kabul (70), Daykundi (44), Herat (37), Balkh (13), Takhar (9), Logar (7), Kunduz (6), Paktia (4), Badghis (4), Bamyan (3), Baghlan (3) and Wardak (1).
The MoPH also reported 21 fatalities in the past day and 614 recoveries, taking those figures to 1,211 deaths and 24,521 recovered.
