Afghanistan’s busy Islam Qala border crossing with Iran has been closed to travelers due to an increased concern around the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Herat governor’s office the “transit of goods between the two countries remains normal.”

“This precautionary measure has been taken by the Iranian government due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths [in Iran],” the office said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health has put forward a proposal to President Ashraf Ghani on ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country – especially at educational institutions.

The ministry said that a decision on steps to be taken will be shared with the media as soon as possible.

This comes after the acting health minister Wahid Majrooh said recently a meeting had been held with provincial public health directors where a number of issues were discussed relating to COVID-19 including that of flights between India and Afghanistan; restrictions on border crossings at Pakistan and Iran ports; large gatherings and the activation of emergency committees.

“These cases will be shared with the leadership of the government and the Security Council so that the leadership of the government can make a decision on the issues,” Majrooh added.

The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 206 new cases of COVID-19 out of 1,877 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

The ministry also reported seven deaths and 180 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period.