Re-opening of Farah Covid-19 Hospital urged as cases surge

FARA CITY (Pajhwok): Some residents of western Farah province are worried about the rise in temperature during summer and say the only Covid-19 hospital has been closed while cases of the respiratory virus are increasing lately.

According to the Public Health Department, five positive Covid-19 cases have been registered in Farah province in the past one month.

Two years back, a 50-bed Covid-19 Hospital was built in Farah City to control the pandemic but after the fall of the past government, the hospital was shut due to financial crisis.

Public Concerns

Bismillah, a resident of Farah City’s first Police District, said with rising temperature during summer, suspected Covid-19 cases had surged and some might be positive.

He was worried about the growing Covid-19 cases and demanded the reopening of the Covid-19 Hospital in the province.

“Covid-19 Hospital is closed and this a huge problem which needs to be addressed, currently many people are suffering from Covid-19 type of symptoms, some of them might be suffering from Covid-19,” he said.

Najibullah, another resident of Farah City, made similar complaints and said: “If Covid-19 Hospital us not made operational again, there is the possibility of an uptick in Covid-19 cases again,” he said.

He said at the moment, the number of normal patients had increased and there might be Covid-19 patients among them.

Former Director of Covid-19 Hospital Mohammad ArifZalal told Pajhwok Afghan News the hospital was non-functional from the past nine months.

He said the World Health Organisation (WHO) will operationalize the Covid-19 hospital for three months.

He was worried that with surge in temperature, the number of Covid-19 patients might also increase.

Public Health Director Dr. SerajuddinMuzamil said the Covid-19 Hospital in Farah City has been non-functional from the past nine months.

He was also worried about surge in the number of patients and said five coronavirus cases had been registered in the past one month.

In Farah province, 1,848 cases have been registered since the inception of Covid-19 and out of them 143 patients have died while 1,220 have recovered.

/ma