The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 1,407 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 4,514 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

The ministry also reported 64 deaths and 917 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period.

Afghanistan has so far recorded 117,158 positive cases and 4,794 deaths from COVID-19 in total.

The number of positive cases and deaths remains high.

On Saturday the Ministry of Public Health announced that all schools and universities in 16 provinces, including Kabul, will remain closed for two weeks to prevent the spread of the third wave of COVID-19.

The passport department has been opened during regular working hours over the past three days and hundreds of people have been visiting the department daily.

Eyewitnesses say “no one is maintaining social distance" at the government office in Kabul that issues passports, which has been open during regular hours for the past three days serving hundreds of people.

“The people are not paying attention,” said Bismillah, a resident of Kabul. “The government announces all the guidelines for the people to consider, but no one follows it.”

Doctors who are treating COVID-19 at hospitals “want the continuation of the restrictions and quarantine,” Bismillah said.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health said that the Delta variant makes up 50% of COVID-19 infections in the country and it is one of the major reasons behind the sharp rise in coronavirus cases in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has achieved the capacity to recognize COVID-19 variants, including Delta, the acting minister of public health, Waheed Majroh, said at a press briefing in Kabul.

He said that out of 19 samples tested in government laboratories, 11 were the Delta variant, while 8 others were the British variant.

Figures by Johns Hopkins University show that the number of deaths from COVID-19 globally is more than 3,924,865 and the number of known global coronavirus cases is 181,167,056.