India has shifted all personnel at its consulates in Afghan cities of Herat and Jalalabad to capital Kabul due to concerns related to the coronavirus, Indian media reported.
The decision to move the diplomats and other staff was made as the consulate at Herat is located close to the border with Iran and the region has seen a massive influx of Afghan refugees and workers from the neighbouring country that has been hit hard by the coronavirus.
It was also felt that the medical facilities in both Herat and Jalalabad were not as good as those available in Kabul.
India has four consulates in Afghanistan at Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. Herat, the third largest city in Afghanistan, is located a little more than 100 km from the border crossing to Iran at Islam Qala.
Iran has so far recorded 32,332 infections and 2,378 deaths while Afghanistan has reported 141 infections and three deaths.
Herat has been described as the epicentre of the virus in Afghanistan and experts believe the reported figures for the country do not present an accurate picture.
“We fear that Herat will turn into another Wuhan,” Afghan public health minister Ferozuddin Feroz has been quoted as saying by The New York Times.
