The novel coronavirus threatens to create a "health disaster" in Afghanistan because of the country's poor healthcare system, malnutrition, war and other vulnerabilities, a US watchdog said.
A report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said the spread of COVID-19 has already affected Afghanistan significantly, from complicating peace efforts to forcing border closures that have disrupted commercial and humanitarian deliveries.
"Afghanistan's numerous and, in some cases, unique vulnerabilities – a weak healthcare system, widespread malnutrition, porous borders, massive internal displacement, contiguity with Iran, and ongoing conflict – make it likely the country will confront a health disaster in the coming months," the Sigar report said.
Rising food prices in the impoverished country likely will worsen the crisis, the watchdog head, John Sopko, said in a letter accompanying the report to the US Congress.
As the pandemic has spread, Washington has pressed the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to free thousands of at-risk militant and government prisoners as a precursor to peace talks originally set to begin on March 10.
The Kabul government, however, was not a party to a February 29 US troop withdrawal deal between the Taliban and Washington that called for the releases. Differences over the pace and numbers of prisoners to be freed have helped stall the peace effort, which could suffer a major blow if many prisoners were to die.
Afghanistan has confirmed nearly 2,200 coronavirus cases and 64 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.
_______________
Coronavirus around the world
-
Artists wearing coronavirus-shaped helmets and protective suits walk on a street as they request people to stay at home during an extended lockdown in New Delhi, India. Reuters -
In this April 30, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, the peak of Mount Everest, is reflected in a pool at the mountain's foot in southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region. China sent scientists to climb Mount Everest while the world's highest peak is empty of commercial climbers because of the coronavirus pandemic. AP -
A closed church during the coronavirus pandemic in Rome, Italy. EPA -
An actor walks on stilts during a car disco across the parking lot of the discotheque "Index," in Schüttorf, Germany. This is the second time that the large-capacity discotheque in Grafschaft Bentheim offers a car disco. A total of 500 guests can participate in 250 vehicles. AP -
An aerial view shows downtown Los Angeles, California and the 110 freeway on amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. AFP -
Paulina Mansz, a group fitness instructor, mimicked by her son Daniel, records a workout session for her clients as she continues to instruct from home in Arlington, Virginia. AFP -
A worker installs barbed wire on a fence around a migrant encampment in Matamoros, Mexico. Reuters -
Actor Marleen Lohse sings from home prior to a movie projection on the backyard firewall of residential building in Berlin. Getty Images -
An employee of Ice cream shop wearing a face mask shows how he will enforce sanitary measures once the activity will reopen to the public in central Rome during the country's lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. AFP -
Banners in Italian and Spanish hang from balconies above a closed fado restaurant in Lisbon's Bairro Alto neighborhood. AP -
A health worker takes a sample from a man testing for the COVID-19 near a wholesale fruit market in Srinagar, Kashmir. AFP -
Colombo Public Health Inspector Mindika Janaka Pitawela and his daughter Minadi Sahansa Pitawela, are separated by a glass panel in their home in Pannipitiya suburbs of Colombo, Sri Lanka. EPA -
Pakistani security officials prepare to seal the area where positive cases of coronavirus were reported in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA -
Pakistani security officials prepare to seal the area where positive cases of coronavirus were reported in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA -
Pornsupa Hattayong gives haircuts to a medical worker at Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. AP -
A cleaner wearing a mask wipes a counter top in the arrival hall of Changi Airport's Terminal 2 in Singapore. Changi Airport will close its Terminal 2 for 18 months. EPA -
Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers are seen illuminated in blue as part of the “Light It Blue” initiative to honour front-line workers. Reuters
