<span style="color: #222222;">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.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">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.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A total of 23 patients have died and 40 others have recovered since the outbreak in mid February, according to the statement.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">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. </span><br />