President Ghani on Tuesday night ordered the Finance Ministry to provide $15M to the Ministry of Public Health to fund coronavirus prevention efforts, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.

The move comes after President Ghani chaired a special meeting with Ferozuddin Feroz, minister of public health, and Hamdullah Mohib, national security advisor, as well as other government officials, to discuss the issue after the Health Ministry on Sunday confirmed the first coronavirus case in the western province of Herat.

At the meeting, governors present were ordered to launch awareness programs to the public in the provinces to prevent the outbreak of the virus, according to the statement.

The working group is charged with coordinating with the private sector (with hospitals, other medical organizations) in order to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus, and to coordinate with the government, Ghani said at the meeting, according to the statement.

On Wednesday morning, the minister of public health said that 9 suspected coronavirus cases have tested negative in Herat province.

So far we only have one confirmed coronavirus case, which is in Herat and it is the only one in Afghanistan, he said.

The Health Ministry also announced that cases that were originally considered possible instances of coronavirus in Ghor, Kabul and Helmand provinces, ultimately tested negative.

The one case that is confirmed in Herat is a 35-year-old Afghan man who had traveled from Qom city in Iran.

In Iran, the virus has killed 16 while 95 cases of infection have been reported in the country, according to news agencies reports.