Local officials in Herat province on Tuesday warned against a second wave of COVID-19 in the province, asking the people to comply with the health guidelines.

Officials in the province also said that the flow of Afghan refugees repatriating from Iran, and the neglect of the people to follow health guidelines have increased the possibility of a new wave of the virus.

They also said that the second wave of the virus has already started in some areas and it is threatening the lives of thousands of people.

“Some people have already suffered from the virus and some others remain, there is a possibility that they will get infected with the majority of them being elderly people,” said Abdul Hakim Tamana, the head of Herat's health department.

“We should be prepared for the second wave; the second wave can be late, but it will reappear, therefore, there is a need for preemptive measures,” said Ghulam Daud Hashemi, the deputy governor of Herat.

Doctors have said that the second wave of the virus will be more devastating. They asked the government to take preemptive measures to fight the virus in the province.

“Even in other countries, we witnessed second wave where the people did not respect the lockdown, the second can bring major fatalities and we (Afghanistan) will not be excluded from it,” said Dr. Farhad Sarem.

Latest COVID-19 figures in Afghanistan:

The Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday reported 135 new positive cases in the past 24 hours out of 637 tests.

The ministry also reported 24 deaths due to COVID-19 over the last 24 hours.

The total known COVID-19 cases in the country reached 34,740, and the number of total known deaths reached 1,062.

Kabul was on the top of the list with 51 new cases followed by Herat with 37 cases and Ghor with 16.

The deaths were reported in Kabul (19), Khost (3), Takhar (1) and Nangarhar (1).