Listen to the story of widow Dilkha ... Corona, a new blow to wound Afghanistan

Dilkha Sultani cleans clothes in front of her house in the Afghan capital, Kabul. While her daughter's gaze is watching her, the afflicted widow hopes that the conditions that currently prevent her from working at home will disappear. 

Delkha says she previously earned about $ 3 a day in exchange for washing clothes for other families.

But since the emergence of the new Corona virus, the amount of work has decreased and she now earns one dollar every few days, to spend on herself and her four children.

Dilkha is no different from the millions of other Afghans who are suffering from economic hardship and hunger due to the decades-old catastrophe and civil wars.

The stricken widow whose husband was killed six years ago in a suicide attack, recounts that since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan she has not found work, "because people do not invite me to their homes to wash clothes because of the fear of the Corona virus."

"I don't have any money to take my son to the barbershop or to buy food ... Most of the time, we don't have anything to eat or break on it after fasting."

Catastrophic Repercussions
So far, at least 6000 people have been infected with the Corona virus in Afghanistan, and 153 of them have died, putting pressure on the already weak health infrastructure in the country.

Officials warn that the actual number of injuries is often much higher, because only a few tests have been performed.

"We are facing increasing needs across the country, and this pandemic is expected to severely affect livelihoods in communities across the country for years to come," said Parvati Ramaswamy, deputy director of the World Food Program in Afghanistan.

The virus, which has disrupted even the world's major economies, is hitting Afghanistan at a time when the government faces the prospect of a financial crisis and an escalation that has helped the Taliban once again.

Daily attacks occur despite the ongoing US-brokered peace process.

"There is a conflict ... and while all events gather at one time, the already weak country will not have enough time and energy to do even basic police work," said Andrew Watkins, senior analyst for Afghanistan in the International Crisis Group.

Violence has escalated this week in the country, the latest of which was the horrific attack on a gynecology and obstetrics section in a hospital in the capital, Kabul, which prompted the government to turn the army into a "attack" position.

ISIS is suspected of being behind the attack on the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. 

The United States is reducing its forces in Afghanistan under an agreement signed with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, months ago.

Donors have been filled by corona,
and it is expected that foreign donors will have very little to offer to Afghanistan after they are exhausted by efforts to combat the emerging corona virus.

Aid pledged in 2016 ran out this year, and a diplomatic source said Afghanistan was heading towards disaster if the shortfall was not compensated.

"This is exactly what Afghanistan is heading to ... adding the internal struggle to form the government, to the derailed peace process, to the Taliban insurgency, the Islamic State attacks and the epidemic of Kovid 19 ... Now imagine where Afghanistan will stand in the year," the senior diplomat added. 2021 ".

The grants constitute about 75% of the Afghan government’s expenditures, and any government revenue from taxes faces a serious threat due to the impact of the epidemic on the economy.

Government revenue has already decreased by about a quarter in the first four months of the fiscal year compared to the same period last year, says the Peroni Institute for Economic Research.

The head of the research department at the institute, Omar Joya, said that they expect another eight million people to fall into poverty this year, which raises the poverty rate from 55 to 80%.

The government is intensifying efforts to distribute food aid. In Kabul, more than 250,000 families have started receiving food for free, including Delkha Sultani, who says that continuing this effort is beyond energy.

"Most of the time, we don't even have a loaf of bread for my children to eat ... I pray to God to eradicate (the epidemic) the virus, so that the poor can lead a normal life," she added.