Mohammad Khan Hemat serves as a doctor in the Afghan-Japan hospital in Kabul. He has the responsibility of taking samples from the patients suspected having the coronvirus.
He said that a number of doctors in Kabul abandoned their work following the reports of the first positive case of COVID-19 in Kabul city.
“We should work for extra hours. Currently, all the people are in quarantine..we work here from 14 to 16 hours,” said Hemat.
“If I desert my job or my co-workers desert, this means we are defeated, but we have to resist and defeat the coronavirus,” added Hemat.
“We request that people remain at home and help us. This can reduce the load of work if they remain at home and we are then able to serve the needy,” said Rahim, a doctor at the Afghan-Japan hospital.
Currently, 100 doctors and health workers are battling COVID-19 at the Afghan-Japan hospital.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health on Saturday said that only 50% percent of doctors are serving on the frontline of the war against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said that fighting the pandemic requires national mobilization.
At the same time, there are reports that a number of doctors and health workers aren’t applying themselves with their jobs because of fears of being infected with COVID-19.
“We are trying to bring another 50 percent into the campaign against the coronavirus,” said Ferozuddin Feroz, the Minister of Health.
At least three doctors in Afghanistan have so far lost their lives while combating the virus.
Recently several doctors were infected with the virus in the western province of Herat, the epicenter of COVID-19 in Afghanistan, however, they swiftly returned to work after they recovered.
Meanwhile, a number of doctors have said that they have not seen their families for several days because they are too busy in the service of COVID-19 patients.
The Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus in the country, bringing the total to 933.
Fear is increasing over the lack of testing kits and other health supplies in various provinces including Kabul and Herat, which have the highest number of COVID-19 patients.
The Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said 13 people have recovered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 112.
Testing for the coronavirus has temporarily stopped in the northern province of Balkh due to the lack of the required kits, which officials say cannot be purchased unless they are first approved by the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, in the northern province Balkh province, Testing for the coronavirus has temporarily stopped due to the lack of the required kits, which officials say cannot be purchased unless they are first approved by the World Health Organization.
Balkh stands third in terms of positive cases of the coronavirus, but is first in the number of COVID-19 deaths, with six. On Saturday the death of a 65-year-old man due to the coronavirus was reported in Balkh.