Afghanistan’s Covid-19 tally tops 42,000

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Public Health  (MoPH) said on Saturday 58 new Covid-19 cases had surfaced in Afghanistan during the last 24 hours, pushing up the country’s overall tally to 42,033.

In a statement, MoPH said 218 people underwent tests in various laboratories across the country during the past 24 hours. At least 58 of them tested positive for the virus.

Of the new cases, 32 were recorded in Balkh, 10 in Zabul, seven in Paktia, four in Helmand, three in Kandahar and two in Nangarhar.

The ministry said nothing about the new Covid-19 cases in Herat during the period.

But Mohammad Rafiq, spokesman for the Herat Public Health Department, said suspected cases had not been tested in the past four days due to lack of equipment.

The period saw six patients recovering from the pandemic, taking the number of recoveries to 34,446, the ministry statement added.

Two individuals died from the pandemic in the past 24 hours, pushing up the number of fatalities to 1,556, the ministry said.

sa/mud