Top US diplomat in Afghanistan tested positive for COVID-19 after evacuating Kabul

The US embassy in Kabul is shredding documents and disposing of American flags over fears the building could soon be overrun by the Taliban.

Rahmat Gul/ Associated Press

• America's chargé d'affaires in Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving Kabul.
• Wilson was the highest-ranking diplomat in the country as the US withdrew its military presence.
• He was also aboard the final military aircraft that left from Kabul's airstrip.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Ross Wilson, who was serving as America's chargé d'affaires in Afghanistan, recently tested positive for COVID-19 following the frantic US evacuation from Kabul, Politico reported on Wednesday.

Wilson went from the embassy to Kabul's airport on August 15 and spent the last few weeks assisting in the evacuation process to help get Americans, allies, and vulnerable Afghans out of the country after it fell to the Taliban, the report said. He left Kabul on the last military flight out of the country alongside Army Maj. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue.

According to Politico, Wilson was "one of the first" people at the US Embassy in Afghanistan to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. He told the publication that he pushed for embassy staffers to get vaccinated "as soon as they became available."

As chargé d'affaires in Afghanistan, Wilson was the top US diplomat in the country and helped oversee America's military withdrawal. According to the US Embassy's website, he first arrived in Kabul in January 2020.

The World Health Organization warned the United Nations in August about coronavirus outbreaks in Afghanistan and pointed to a decreased number of vaccines doled out in the country since the Taliban came to power.

"As the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate rapidly, WHO is extremely concerned over the unfolding safety and humanitarian needs in the country, including risk of disease outbreaks and rise in COVID-19 transmission," said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for WHO.

The US State Department issued a level 4 travel advisory for Afghanistan on Tuesday, citing COVID-19 and "civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, terrorism, kidnapping" as high-level threats. Ross retweeted the warning one day before his diagnosis before Politico made his diagnosis public.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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