Health officials warn the Covid-19 hospital in northern Kunduz province may be closed due to no-payment of staff salaries and lack of neces-sary facilities.
The officials urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support the health facility to pre-vent a fourth wave of the coro-navirus.
At the same time, hospital work-ers, complaining of financial problems, said they had not re-ceived their salaries for several months. They warned of quitting if the situation continued.
Director of Kunduz Covid Hospi-tal Dr. Daud Ghani confirmed their facilities and equipment were fast depleting. Staff members had not been paid for the last seven months on the one hand and the fate of the hos-pital and its employees remained unknown on the other. “We are facing a serious crisis. If the situation remains unchanged, the hospital will have to be closed,” the official cautioned.
He said the only Covid-hospital in the northern zone was in Kun-duz and if it was not supported, its staff would resign. Meanwhile, the staffers also grumbled about the non-payment of salaries, asking WHO to re-lease their dues.
Qudratullah Mubarez, an em-ployee of the hospital, said: “We have not received our salaries for seven months. Our fate has been unknown for two months.” Mubarez added: “Food prices had skyrocketed. We are facing fi-nancial difficulties and hope that we will be supported.” Director of Public Health Qari Mohammad Anwar acknowl-edged the problems being faced by the health centre and sought support from WHO.
