Employees work at a mask factory in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh province, northern Afghanistan, Sept. 17, 2020. The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Thursday confirmed 17 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of patients in the country to 38,872. (Photo by Kawa Basharat/Xinhua)
KABUL, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Thursday confirmed 17 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of patients in the country to 38,872.
A total of 256 tests were conducted in several provinces within the past 24 hours, and 17 infections were detected in Kabul, Daykuni, Balkh, Laghman, and Nuristan provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
No patients died during the period, and the death toll stands at 1,436, the statement added.
The total number of recoveries reached 32,505 after two more patients have recovered since early Wednesday.
Local health experts believed that the actual number of infections could be much higher than the official figures as scores of patients did not visit hospitals and there was no system to register them. Enditem
