KABUL, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan authorities on Thursday confirmed 43 new COVID-19 cases, bringing to 239 the total number of patients in the country since the outbreak of the disease in mid February.
"Forty-one people, including 17 women and 24 men, were tested positive for COVID-19 in western Herat province and two people were infected in Kabul city," Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman of Ministry of Public Health, said in a statement.
"The patients have been sent for the quarantine process," he said.
Out of 239 cases, 184 cases were reported in Herat.
All the new cases were locally-transmitted ones as the patients did not have travel history abroad.
Over the weekend, the government began a 21-day lockdown in most of the big cities in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
Mayar also confirmed the fourth death from COVID-19 in the country, saying a 70-year-old patient has succumbed to the virus in Herat province on Tuesday.
