The total confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Afghanistan reached 1,703 on Monday.

Information shared with the media by the Ministry of Public Health indicated that 600 samples were tested from 18 provinces in the last 24 hours, and 172 were positive.

The 172 new cases were reported in Balkh (34), Herat (33), Kabul (27), Kandahar (21), Paktia (8), Baghlan (8), Kunduz (7), Sar-e-Pul (5), Ghor (5), Samangan (4), Nimruz (4), Faryab (4), Nangarhar (3), Laghman (3), Khost (3), Helmand (2), Paktia (1) and Panjshir (1) provinces.

According to the ministry, so far, 8,694 samples have been tested.

The number of recovered cases in the country is 220 while 57 others have died.

The number of deaths from the COVID-19 globally is more than 206,565, and more than 2.9 million have been infected with the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.