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Afghanistan: COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Response Operational Situation Report, 16 September 2020

Países
Afganistán
+ 2
Fuentes
OCHA
Fecha de publicación

HIGHLIGHTS

• As of 16 September, 38,855 people in Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19; 1,436 have died and 32,503 have recovered.

• Since the start of March, partners have medically screened 496,365 people at points-of-entry, reached 112,170 children with home-based learning materials and distributed almost 5 million bars of soap in 267 districts across the country.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

MoPH data shows that as of 16 September, 38,855 people across all 34 provinces in Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19. Some 32,503 people have recovered, and 1,436 people have died (76 of whom are healthcare workers). 107,593 people out of the population of 37.6 million have been tested. Almost ten per cent of the total confirmed COVID-19 cases are among healthcare staff.

The majority of the deaths were people between the ages of 50 and 79. Men in this age group represent half of all COVID-19-related deaths.
Moreover, men account for more than 70 per cent of the total COVID19 confirmed cases, however this may be the result of testing bias.

Kabul remains the most affected part of the country in terms of confirmed cases, followed by Hirat, Balkh, Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces.

Complacency and failure to follow public health advice are creating grave risks in the community with people generally not observing physical distancing protocols. Recent modelling on COVID-19 projections, developed by the Centre for Humanitarian Data in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and released on 9 September, suggests that based on MOPH data, cases and deaths will continue to rise over the next four weeks. Modelling further suggests a significant increase in severe cases (potentially up to 3x the number) should current preventative measures be lifted, creating grave implications for Afghanistan’s economy and people’s well-being.
According to WFP’s market monitoring, the average wheat flour price (low price) increased by 8 per cent between 14 March and 16 September, while the cost of pulses, sugar, cooking oil and rice (low quality) increased by 25 per cent, 20 per cent, 27 per cent, and 18 per cent, respectively, over the same period. This price increase is accompanied by a declining purchasing power of casual labourers and pastoralists – which have deteriorated by 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively (compared to 14 March).

While implementing activities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, humanitarian partners also continue to respond to other ongoing and emerging humanitarian needs. During the reporting period, 6,472 women received antenatal and postnatal care through midwives deployed in Mobile Health Teams (MHTs). 324 people were treated for trauma care and 274 children under the age of 5 years received routine immunisation through MHTs. 640 children aged 6-59 months received treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 31,430 children aged 6-59 months received treatment for Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). 4,607 nutritionally at-risk children under the age of 5 years received blanket supplementary feeding. 11,739 pregnant and lactating women (PLW) received assistance through targeted supplementary feeding programmes (TSFP), while 2,124 nutritionally at-risk PLWs also received blanket supplementary food. 3,982 caregivers received Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and maternal counselling during the reporting period, while 2,399 community members received Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) counselling. 106 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases across 4 provinces were identified and referred to Family Protection Centres (FPCs) for case management. 79 dignity kits were distributed to women and girls across Balkh and Badghis provinces. As part of its regular programming, WFP distributed 2,293 metric tons (mt) of food between 3 and 9 September.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.