Up to 70 pc of Afghan lawmakers test positive for COVID-19: Reports

Between 60 and 70 percent of lawmakers in Afghanistan have tested positive for the coronavirus disease since the start of the outbreak, the country's 1News broadcaster reports on Saturday, citing a member of parliament.

Between 60 and 70 percent of lawmakers in Afghanistan have tested positive for the coronavirus disease since the start of the outbreak, the country's 1News broadcaster reports on Saturday, citing a member of parliament. According to Simin Barekzai, a member of parliament representing Herat province, most of the politicians who have caught the disease have recovered but some remain in quarantine.

"I hope that those who are under self-quarantine recover and complete the parliament's strength," Barekzai was quoted by the broadcaster as saying. A private hospital in Kabul told the broadcaster that several lawmakers had visited the facility to get tested for COVID-19 and that some of these tests returned a positive result.

Since the start of the outbreak, 34,366 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Afghanistan, and the country's death toll stands at 994. Over the past day, 172 new positive tests for the disease were confirmed.