Buy a mask and let his family go hungry, or buy food and go out into the crowded city without one — that is the stark choice facing Hayatullah Khan, an Afghan labourer whose daily earnings have fallen below $1.50 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Like many poor South Asians, Khan has no choice but to leave the house for work. But even without the hit to his earnings from the coronavirus pandemic, he would have struggled to afford the mask authorities tell him he should wear.

"I have earned less than 100 afghani ($1.32) today. What am I going to do?," Khan said in the Afghan capital Kabul. "Should I buy a mask or food for my family?"