Coronavirus situation in Central Asia reaches stabilization level

Bishkek, Sept. 15, 2020 / Kabar /. The situation with coronavirus in Central Asia is reaching a stabilization level, however, it is too early to speak about a decrease in the level of the disease, Director of Kabar News Agency Kubanychbek Taabaldiev told. Speaking at the World Journalists Conference 2020, which is running online Taabaldiev shared his vision on the situation related to COVID-19 focusing on five Central Asian countries with a total population of more than 70 million people. “With the onset of the pandemic worldwide, Central Asia also started registering those infected with the coronavirus, which led to a declaration of a state of emergency in three countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in mid-March, and the closing of borders for citizens of other countries,” he said stressing that in the first two months, the situation was relatively stable in the region. Taabaldiev noted a sharp increase in the spread of COVID-19 after quarantine measures were eased in early June. “Two countries, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, felt this especially strongly. During this time in Kyrgyzstan ten times as many people were diagnosed with the disease daily than during the quarantine in spring. In Kazakhstan, the number of cases has increased by more than 20 times. As a result, to date, the total number of cases in Kazakhstan has exceeded 105 thousand people, in Kyrgyzstan - more than 44 thousand people,” he added. At the same, Taabaldiev noted that in Uzbekistan, the number of detected patients grew more smoothly and to date their number did not exceed 40 thousand for several month and just recently reached 45 thousand. Participant of the conference Dilmurod Djumabaev, the correspondent from Uzbekistan said that Uzbekistan was quick to respond and remains in control. “In the current difficult situation, Uzbekistan has effectively solved two important, extremely urgent tasks at once: issues of protecting the health and life of the people and restoring the economy, delivering conditions for all to work and earn for living,” he said adding that the country learned to live and work in a pandemic with iron discipline. Meanwhile, Taabaldiev said that currently all countries of the region are preparing for the possible second wave of COVID-19 with completely different ideas about the severity of the coronavirus. “If Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have learned a good enough lesson and are making efforts to prevent a recurrence of the crisis, while in Uzbekistan the number of cases has not even began to decrease. This suggests that the country has not yet reached the peak of the spread, although all measures are being taken to stop the spread of infection,” he noted. Speaking about the economic situation in the region due to the pandemic Taabaldiev said that in general, the region suffered economically the most. “The decline in the economies of the region’s countries can reach 6-10%, which will noticeably affect the living standards of the 70 million people living here,” he concluded. The World Journalists Conference 2020 has started on Monday. On the first day of the conference, the participants discussed various countries' examples and countermeasures to fake news and the future of the journalism, the second day was focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. The third day of the conference will be devoted to the 70th anniversary of the Korean War and Peace Policy in the Korean Peninsula.