Nearly 70% of Afghan lawmakers test positive for COVID-19: Reports

Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, 60 to 70 per cent of lawmakers in Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19.  According to a member of parliament that represents the Herat province, Simin Barekzai, most of the lawmakers who had tested positive have since recovered, while some of them are still under quarantine.

Most lawmakers have completely recovered

Reports also quoted Barekzai saying, "I hope that those who are under self-quarantine recover and complete the parliament's strength." Since the beginning of the outbreak, Afghanistan has reported 34,366 positive coronavirus cases as well as 994 deaths according to the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre.

The deadly coronavirus pandemic first appeared in China late last year. The virus was traced to an illegal wet market in Wuhan city in the Hubei province. Since the discovery of the virus, it has infected 12,681,472 people worldwide and the current death toll stands at 56,420.

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WHO wants countries to get aggressive

The World Health Organisation has urged countries not to let their guard down and increase efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic as a fresh surge in cases force some countries to go back under a lockdown or reimpose fresh restrictions.

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Read: WHO Calls For Aggressive Measures As Nations Reimpose Lockdown After Surge In COVID Cases

According to WHO reports, countries like Uzbekistan have had to reimpose coronavirus restrictions after surge in virus cases and local transmissions. But it is possible to get the virus under control irrespective of the intensity of the outbreak. In order to prove his point, the UN health agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited examples of countries like Italy, Spain, South Korea and Vietnam. He even mentioned Mumbai's Dharavi as a shining example of how to get the coronavirus outbreak under control even in densely populated areas by rigorous testing, accurate tracing and isolation.

(Representative Image: ANI)