Covid-19 out of control in Afghanistan as cases up 2,400pc in a month

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The Covid-19 pandemic is spiralling out of control in Afghanistan, with cases rising 2,400 per cent in the past month, hospitals filling up and medical resources quickly running out, said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

More than a third of tests last week came back positive, the ICRC said.

"Afghanistan is at a crisis point in the battle to contain Covid-19 as hospital beds are full to capacity in the capital Kabul and in many areas," said Nilab Mobarez, Acting President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, in a statement released by the ICRC.

Health authorities have registered 2,313 positive cases and a record 101 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. Officials and experts have said low testing means those official figures are probably a dramatic undercount.

A man waits outside a factory to get his oxygen cylinder refilled as he holds it on his shoulder, in Kabul, Afghanistan. — Reuters
A man waits outside a factory to get his oxygen cylinder refilled as he holds it on his shoulder, in Kabul, Afghanistan. — Reuters

Read the full Reuters story here.

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