Medics infected with coronavirus in western Afghanistan amid Iran exodus

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan authorities have quarantined 16 health workers, including six doctors, officials said on Tuesday, as Afghans fleeing hard-hit Iran have helped spread the coronavirus in the western border province of Herat.

Afghanistan, already battling a shortage of food and medicines amid a Taliban insurgency, has recorded 170 cases of the coronavirus, of which 131 were identified in Herat, a bustling province that shares a porous border with Iran, the worst-affected country in the Middle East.