KABUL, Afghanistan: The US State Department says COVID-19 infections have been reported at its embassy in the Afghan capital and affected staff include diplomats, contractors and locals.
The State Department did not say how many were affected. An official at the embassy in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said up to 20 people were infected, the majority of them Nepalese Gurkhas, who provide embassy security.
“The embassy is implementing all appropriate measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” the State Department said in a statement late Friday.
The infected staff are in isolation in the embassy while the remainder on the compound are being tested, said the embassy official. That official added that embassy staff were told they can expect tighter isolation orders.
The State Department said a sanitization of the premises was being carried out to “prevent further outbreak.”
Afghanistan has 28,424 confirmed coronavirus cases. International aid organizations monitoring the pandemic’s spread in the country say the numbers are much higher because of a lack of testing capabilities as well as access to testing.
Observers also fear the highly contagious coronavirus has spread throughout the country with the return of nearly 300,000 Afghans from Iran, the hardest hit country in the region. Iran has recorded more than 200,000 cases and 9,392 deaths.
Few of the Afghans who returned from Iran were tested before they fanned out across the country to their homes.
Earlier this month, the International Rescue Committee warned Afghanistan was on the brink of a humanitarian disaster mostly because the government does not have the capacity to even test 80% of coronavirus cases.
A handful of NATO troops have also tested positive for the infection.
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US embassy in Kabul battles coronavirus outbreak
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US embassy in Kabul battles coronavirus outbreak
- The infected staff are in isolation in the embassy while the remainder on the compound are being tested
- Embassy staff were told they can expect tighter isolation orders
Czech Republic ‘certainly not’ on path to higher defense spending, says Babis
Asked in an online interview on Thursday on news server Denik.cz if the government was on a path to higher spending, Babis said: “Certainly not“
“Our priority is the health of our citizens, so that they live long lives”
PRAGUE: The Czech Republic is “certainly not” setting a path to reach higher defense spending despite rising NATO targets, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday, marking a clear departure from the previous government’s policy.
Babis’ government, led by his populist ANO party, took power in December and is pushing a re-worked 2026 budget plan through parliament. It has faced some criticism over lower defense spending, however.
Babis said before last year’s election that a NATO agreement to gradually raise defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product was unrealistic.
Asked in an online interview on Thursday on news server Denik.cz if the government was on a path to higher spending, Babis said: “Certainly not.”
“Our priority is the health of our citizens, so that they live long lives,” he said.
Babis won last year’s election with promises to concentrate more on people’s standard of living by boosting wages, cutting some taxes and adding new benefits.
The new government’s 2026 budget proposal cuts spending on defense to 2.1 percent of GDP versus the previous center-right cabinet’s plan for 2.35 percent — a plan Defense Minister Jaromir Zuna said on Wednesday would not hurt army modernization projects.
The previous administration — a staunch supporter of Kyiv in the Ukraine-Russia war — had sought for defense spending to gradually rise to 3 percent of GDP by 2030.
The new government has continued a Czech-led initiative sourcing large-calibre ammunition for Ukraine and financed by donations from countries like Germany. But it has stopped providing budget funds itself to the program.
“Our priority is the health of our citizens, so that they live long lives”
PRAGUE: The Czech Republic is “certainly not” setting a path to reach higher defense spending despite rising NATO targets, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday, marking a clear departure from the previous government’s policy.
Babis’ government, led by his populist ANO party, took power in December and is pushing a re-worked 2026 budget plan through parliament. It has faced some criticism over lower defense spending, however.
Babis said before last year’s election that a NATO agreement to gradually raise defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product was unrealistic.
Asked in an online interview on Thursday on news server Denik.cz if the government was on a path to higher spending, Babis said: “Certainly not.”
“Our priority is the health of our citizens, so that they live long lives,” he said.
Babis won last year’s election with promises to concentrate more on people’s standard of living by boosting wages, cutting some taxes and adding new benefits.
The new government’s 2026 budget proposal cuts spending on defense to 2.1 percent of GDP versus the previous center-right cabinet’s plan for 2.35 percent — a plan Defense Minister Jaromir Zuna said on Wednesday would not hurt army modernization projects.
The previous administration — a staunch supporter of Kyiv in the Ukraine-Russia war — had sought for defense spending to gradually rise to 3 percent of GDP by 2030.
The new government has continued a Czech-led initiative sourcing large-calibre ammunition for Ukraine and financed by donations from countries like Germany. But it has stopped providing budget funds itself to the program.
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