Health officials said the public's inattention to the lockdown measures in Herat is alarming and could lead to a crisis as the positive cases of COVID-19 in the province surpassed 1,000 on Saturday.

According to officials, the result of more than 60% of daily-tested samples is positive and hundreds of migrants are entering the province from Iran on a daily basis.

“The spread of the coronavirus is very high, and 70 to 80 percent of the residents of (Herat) city are either secret transmitters or are suspected of having the virus,” said Mohammad Rafiq Shirzai, a spokesman for Herat's Public Health Directorate.

“It is good that when you go home, you should be under quarantine and if someone shows severe symptoms, you should dial 109. Our colleagues will come and will see your condition,” said Shakib Saeedi, a communication officer of the Public Health Directorate of Herat.

The communication official said they receive 200 calls a day in the call center, which was established in March after the spread of COVID-19 in the province.

“We are four people and each of us receives at least 50 calls every day… We give health advice to the people and if they need cooperation, our mobile team visits their home,” said Qadir Mohammadi, head of the call center.

The governor’s office said the lockdown will be intensified if it faces continued indifference by the residents.

“We are studying the situation on a daily basis, and, if needed, we will intensify the lockdown in collaboration with the public health directorate in order to slow the speared of COVID-19,” said Farhad Jailani, a spokesman for the Herat governor.