Report on closure of 33 Covid-19 hospitals untrue

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has rejected a report about the closure of 33 Covid-19 hospitals. The ministry said 17 of the 38 coronavirus hospitals across the country remained open for patients.

Propaganda: Recently, Daily Hasht-i-Subh published a report about the closure of most of Covid-19 hospitals in the country.

The newspaper carried the report, headlined ‘Health system derailed in Afghanistan: 33 Covid-19 hospitals in the country are non-functional’.

The report quoted Public Health Ministry officials as saying that after the political change in the country, 38 Covid-19 hospitals had been shut down due to non-availability of funds.

Five coronavirus hospitals had recently reopened and 33 others remained shut, the newspaper said.

A Facebook page — Coronavirus in Afghanistan — also shared the report.

In addition, Radio Azadi, on its webpage wrote; “Five Covid-19 hospitals in Afghanistan are open for coronavirus patients.”

Fact check: MoPH has rejected the Hasht-i-Subh report on the closure of Covid-19 hospitals due to non-availability of funds.

MoPH spokesman Javid Hazeez said earlier 38 Covid-19 hospitals were functional nationwide but due to the halt to World Bank aid, some had been closed. Currently, 17 Covid-19 hospitals are functional in the country.

He said of the 17 functional hospitals, financial resources had been explored for five. The remaining hospitals are being kept operational with resources of the ministry.

According to MoPH data, nearly 170,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the inception of the virus.

As many as 146,000 individuals have recovered while the virus that has claimed 7,400 lives in Afghanistan.

nh/mud

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