Afghans return to games, parks, weddings despite virus fears

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — When the bowling alley reopened, Zohal Bayat was eager to get back to the lanes. For four long months amid Afghanistan’s coronavirus, it and other recreational facilities had been closed. So that meant Bayat, a member of the country’s national women’s bowling team, had been unable to practice,

On top of that, Bayat was at one point struck with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. She spent more than 20 days in isolation, with fever, shortness of breath and coughing. Her father was infected as well, but now both are well.

“I am so excited,” the 25-year-old Bayat said, as she practiced at the Friend’s Café, her favorite alley.

Still, she only comes on weekdays. Weekends are too crowded, as young people pack the place, which also features pool tables, music and the café itself. “I will continue to exercise,” said Bayat, who also plays basketball. “But I am afraid of the second wave of the virus.”

Desperate for relief from endless war combined with the pandemic, Afghans are rushing back to public recreation as the government eases the lockdown it imposed to fight the coronavirus. Since mid-July, Afghans can once again frequent parks, swimming pools and gyms, shop in malls and celebrate marriages in wedding halls. Universities and private schools have reopened, and at government schools, the 11th and 12th grades have restarted.

Few wear masks or take other precaution — and authorities are left trying to remind the public of the danger of a second wave of the pandemic.

So far, the official figures have not shown new cases spiking since the easing of the lockdown, with a steady average of around 50 to 70 a day the past month. According to Health Ministry figures, Afghanistan has recorded over 38,200 cases of the...