Long War Suffering Afghanistan Increasingly Facing a More Severe Threat: Coronavirus

The Afghan Public Health Ministry estimates that 25.6 million Afghans will be infected and 110,000 Afghans will die from COVID-19.

Ariana News Agency- 

If that estimate is borne out, the casualties from the virus will be much higher than the total civilian causalities of the more than 18-year war.

Afghanistan recorded its first positive case of COVID-19 in late February. A combination of political rifts, lack of testing, extremely social lifestyles, and a war-torn health care system led to Afghanistan’s failure to contain the novel coronavirus in the early stages.

The country has struggled to diagnose COVID-19 cases, prevent an outbreak, and treat patients. Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans have been returning from Iran, where the pandemic has already hit especially hard.

The political dispute over the 2019 presidential election continues to drain attention away from battling the coronavirus. The dispute has turned into an ugly mess, forcing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to fly from Washington D.C. to Kabul in hopes of brokering a deal between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom claim the mantle of president. Pompeo flew back empty-handed, and soon followed up with an angrily-worded statement threatening to cut $1 billion in U.S. aid.

“When corona[virus] spread in China, we had time to prepare ourselves,” said Najmusama Shefajo, a doctor based in Kabul. But the government didn’t take advantage of that time. “Coronavirus is inside Afghanistan, and now we design strategy and set up commissions” to fight coronavirus, Shefajo lamented.

The consequences of political rifts appeared in western Herat province, the epicenter of COVID-19 in Afghanistan. Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz of Afghanistan was seen in television ads urging Afghans to wash their hands and eat fruits that contain Vitamin C. But all the while, Afghans were flowing in from Iran, the epicenter of the pandemic in the Middle East, and carrying infection into Afghanistan.

Spokesperson for Health Ministry Wahidullah Mayar appeared in a news conference, saying the ministry was doing its job and political rifts should not affect a proposed decision to impose travel restrictions.

A daytime curfew was into place in western Herat and Nimruz province on Wednesday, March 25 — three days after the proposal was made.