The minister of public health, Ferozuddin Feroz, on Sunday said the Afghan government is ready to bring back 43 Afghan citizens scattered in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus, a deadly virus that so far has killed over 300 people.

But the minister said a lockdown in Wuhan, and severe quarantine in the Chinese city, has impeded their efforts in this respect.

He said measures are being implemented countrywide to prevent a possible outbreak of coronavirus in Afghanistan.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, at least 200 patients have checked into government-owned hospitals with flu symptoms but there has been no sign of coronavirus detected.

The minister said they had predicted that the virus will infect at least 3,000 people in six months if it breaks out in Afghanistan.

Feroz told reporters that at least ten types of viruses can be diagnosed in the ministry’s laboratories.

“Over the past week, out of 262 people who have traveled from China to Afghanistan, 233 of them were Afghans, others were foreigners,” Feroz said. “We contacted them and they are being monitored by our team.”

The minister advised the people to wash their hands with detergents, consume foods and fruit with vitamin C and war mask while they are out of their homes.

The World Health Organization last week declared the new type of coronavirus, called 2019 nCoV, an international public health emergency.

“Good messages can be spread in the country’s airports by the Ministry of Public Health,” said the head of the World Health Organization’s emergency programs, Mohammad Daoud Iltaf.