The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned of severe food shortages in Afghanistan due to the novel coronavirus spreading throughout the country.

“The COVID-19 outbreak is making the already terrible situation much worse. This horrible conflict and now the economic impact of this virus has left almost 11 million people facing severe food insecurity, unsure of where their next meal will come from,” it said.

“We are extremely concerned for our clients — not only for the severe health impacts this virus will have on them, but also for the way this disease is already exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation in the country,” it further added.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Health has said they only have capacity to test 2,000 cases per day, yet, are receiving between 10,000 and 20,000 samples each day. That means between 80 and 90 percent of potential cases are not being tested. Afghanistan has one of the highest test positivity rates (40%) of all the countries where the IRC works, suggesting a high level of undetected population infection.

Despite the spread of COVID-19, the IRC is safely continuing its life saving programming, working to combat and respond to violence against women and children, train frontline healthcare workers on Infection, Prevention and Control, adapting our education programming to reach children in their homes, increasing access to water and sanitation for our clients, providing cash relief to those most in need and combatting the spread of misinformation to ensure our clients know how to protect themselves from the disease. But, more is needed. The IRC is urgently calling on the international community to work with Afghanistan to improve their testing capacity, and to increase direct support for frontline responders like the IRC,” it went on saying.

Arezo News