Geographic information science (GIS) has emerged as a unique tool that is extremely valuable in various research which involves spatial–temporal aspects. The geographical distribution of the epidemic is considered a significant characteristic that can be analyzed using GIS and spatial statistics. Proper knowledge can assist in controlling, mitigating, and mapping factors for detecting the transmission as well as the disease dynamics, and it provides geographical information of the outbreak and it can also give a glimpse of the disease trend and hotspots as well as provide ways to further evaluate the associated risk. This study analyzed the countries’ total confirmed cases, total death cases, and the total recovered cases using an (IDW) geospatial technique which is an inherent tool used in ArcMap for spatial analysis. In order to identify the hotspots for COVID-19 cases, the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic method was applied with a confidence level of 95% in Herat and 90% for Kabul, Kapisa, and Logar provinces. The data considered in this research ranged from the period of 23rd July 2020 to 24th February 2021. All the COVID-19 confirmed, recovered, and death cases were correlated with provincial population density using the Pearson Correlation coefficient. Among the total cases 54,487, 32% cases were reported in the capital of the country (Kabul), and the mortality rate was 31% followed by Herat (18% deaths), Balkh (7% deaths), and Nangarhar (6% deaths). Most of the recoveries were observed in Kabul with (30%) followed by Herat (16%), Bamyan (10%), Balkh (5%), and Kandahar (5%). The results for Global Moran’s I showed that the incidence rate of the total COVID-19 cases was in the random pattern, with the Moran Index of − 0.14. Given the z-score of − 1.62, the pattern does not appear to be significantly different than random. There was a strong correlation between the COVID-19 variables and population density [with r (33) = 0.827], [ r (33) = 0.819] and [ r (33) = 0.817] for the total cases, death cases, and recovered cases, respectively. Even though GIS has limited applicability in detecting the type and its spatial pattern of the epidemic, there is a high potential to use these tools in managing and controlling the pandemic. Moreover, GIS helps us better in comprehending the epidemic and assists us in addressing those fractions of the population and communities which are underserved during the disease outbreak.

Ministry of higher education has recently launched an e-learning tool during the global COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan. Many higher learning institutions in Afghanistan have implemented e-learning tool because of its effectiveness as a learning approach. However, fever studies have shown that there are still low adoption rate of e-learning in higher education institutions in Afghanistan. This study explored the rate of adoption and an implementation framework of e-learning in Shaikh Zayed University Khost, Afghanistan. The strategy of inquiry is quantitative and the instrument for determining the perceptions of target group is questionnaire. A total of 120 instructors have participated in the survey in which some of them were IT Administrators. The survey result revealed that 37.08% of contents delivery is traditional on chalk and talk based,  47.91% contents delivered by instructors using projector and 31.66% academic staff use lab sessions at Shaikh Zayed University. As a result, the ministry of higher education in Afghanistan needs to have guidelines to help higher education institutions to implement e-learning successfully and efficiently.