In Afghanistan, where more than 20 staff at the presidential palace have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel Coronavirus, a spokesman said Tuesday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his wife Rula have both tested negative.
Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted that Ghani, who is 70 and a cancer survivor, and his wife had both requested the test. “The President is healthy and is leading government efforts on all fronts. All precautions are in place to make sure his work environment is safe and healthy,” he tweeted.
Afghanistan has confirmed 1,092 cases of the virus, with 36 deaths so far, but testing has been sporadic and there are widespread concerns an explosion of COVID-19 would overwhelm the country’s war-ravaged health system.
More than 200,000 Afghans had returned from Iran — the region’s epicenter of the virus — since the beginning of the year.
The returnees were not quarantined but dispersed after crossing the border to travel to their hometowns across the country.
