The country is grappling with acute shortages of testing facilities at a time when violent clashes between government forces and the Taliban insurgents show no signs of decline. The medical and security crisis has worsened in the province as thousands of men continue to ignore social distancing rules and attended a mass religious gathering at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. "We request people to follow the rules but they just don't listen, the religious preachers are not obeying too," said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for Herat's provincial governor. Verified photographs and videos shared on social media of the event organised last week on a vacant plot of land highlighted the challenges faced by officials to prevent gatherings organised by powerful religious preachers. "We request people to take the virus seriously, for God's sake it is not a joke," Farhad said.

Source: bd News24 April 26, 2020 10:41 UTC