‘We’re not ready’: coronavirus looms over the fragile Afghan health system

<div><p>As Western NGOs remove staff and the US strips support, an influx of Afghans from Iran could add pressure on an already depleted medical system</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live/latest">Coronavirus – latest updates</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></li></ul><p>In the Guzargah reception centre for returnees and repatriates in Herat, Afghanistan, 17-year-old Yunos rests on a thin mattress in a small, empty room.</p><p>The previous night fatigued him. He spent it sleeping rough in the desert along with thousands of other Afghans, awaiting the opening of the Iran-Afghanistan border. The frigid desert air froze him to the bone and hunger disturbed his sleep.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/26/coronavirus-in-a-war-zone-afghanistan-braces-for-outbreak-after-first-case">Coronavirus in a war zone: Afghanistan braces for outbreak after first case</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/30/were-not-ready-coronavirus-looms-over-the-fragile-afghan-health-system">Continue reading...</a></div>