Afghanistan’s tally of COVID-19 rose to 714 on Tuesday morning with 49 more confirmed cases being reported,  the Ministry of Public Health has said.

The ministry said that the COVID-19 cases are expected to increase rapidly over the weeks ahead as community transmission escalates. A total of 18 new cases were reported in Kabul province, 15 in Kandahar, six in Balkh, four in Herat, four in Ghazni and two in Nangarhar provinces respectively.

A total of 23 patients have died and 40 others have recovered since the outbreak in mid February, according to the statement.

To contain the pandemic, the government has put big cities including Kabul under quarantine since late last month, calling on the people to remain at home.