One third of 500 random coronavirus tests carried out in Afghanistan’s capital came back positive, health officials said on Sunday, raising fears of widespread undetected cases in one of the world’s most fragile countries.
The results of the tests in Kabul are concerning, Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mayar said.
Afghanistan has performed only limited testing so far – close to 12,000, with more than 2,700 confirmed infections, in a nation of 36.6 million people.
As more testing becomes available, the country’s infection numbers will likely increase sharply, Mr Mayar said.
He urged residents to stay at home. Kabul and most other cities are in lockdown, but public compliance has not been widespread.
The country's coronavirus death toll is currently 85 but the true figure could also be much higher.
More than 250,000 Afghans returned home from Iran since the beginning of the year, fanning out across their country without being tested or quarantined. Anecdotal reports suggest dozens of people who returned have died from Covid-19.
At a recent briefing, senior government official said 40 people died of the disease in Sarobi district, barely 50 kilometres east of Kabul. The country's health ministry said it could not confirm the deaths.
Afghanistan’s healthcare system, devastated by four decades of war, is woefully unprepared for a major outbreak. It has only 400 ventilators.
Testing in Afghanistan has been sporadic and some of those infected have been hiding their symptoms, in part because of stigma.
In parts of the country, there have been reports of Covid-19 patients being shunned by their neighbours and even refused food from local markets.
The government, which is embroiled in political turmoil, also faced criticism for responding too slowly to the crisis.
The government only recently started testing people in western Herat province, where hundreds of thousands of those who returned from Iran have transited.
Two men claim to have won last year’s Afghan presidential election. US efforts to find a compromise have failed, causing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to threaten to cut $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in aid.
The bickering has also delayed the introduction of a US-Taliban peace deal signed in February to allow Washington to end its longest military engagement and bring more than 12,000 US soldiers home.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced schools and mosques in the country would reopen in some low-risk locations. Schools and universities were shut in late February.
On Sunday, authorities said 47 people died in the preceding 24 hours, the lowest daily toll in two months.
Still, Iran remains among the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East, with more than 97,000 cases and more than 6,200 deaths.
Also on Sunday, the UN children’s agency urged six countries in the Middle East to back special polio and measles vaccination campaigns put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
About 10.5 million children under the age of 5 are at risk of missing their polio vaccination, Unicef said. About 4.5 million children under the age of 15 could miss their measles vaccinations.
Routine vaccinations for diseases such as rubella and diphtheria continue, but special campaigns for polio and measles were put on hold in some countries because healthcare systems were overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic or governments wanted to avoid crowding at clinics.
The polio campaigns are on hold in Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq, with measles vaccinations suspended in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Djibouti, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities announced Tel Aviv's annual gay pride parade would be postponed, as would similar events in Haifa, Jerusalem and Beersheba.
The event in Tel Aviv, which was scheduled for early June, drew more than 250,000 people last year.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Company%20profile
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Name: GiftBag.ae
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2011
Number of employees: 4
Sector: E-commerce
Funding: Self-funded to date
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
