Afghanistan records highest daily Covid death toll amid oxygen shortage
Kabul, Jun 16 (EFE).- Afghanistan on Wednesday registered its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day, with 94 people succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours, even as the country struggles with shortage of medical oxygen.
“This is the highest death toll in the country so far,” public health ministry spokesperson Dastagir Nazari told EFE.
According to official data, a total of 3,842 people have died of Covid-19 in Afghanistan until now.
On the same day, the country also recorded one of its highest daily caseloads, 1,722 infections, out of the 5,053 tests carried out. The total number of cases since the pandemic began has crossed 96,000.
The data comes as the country is witnessing its third coronavirus wave, and Afghan hospitals have been hit by a lack of oxygen for medical use as local manufacturers have been unable to meet the surging demand.
Afghan Health Minister Wahid Majroh on Wednesday urged the World Bank to help the country find a way to procure oxygen.
“Despite installation of several oxygen concentrating devices in Kabul and provincial hospitals, still we are faced with shortage of oxygen and need serious help in this regard,” Majroh said in a statement released by the ministry.
Responding to the Covid surge, the government has ordered the closure of education institutions and urged workers above the age of 55 and pregnant women to work from home. EFE
bks-daa/ia
