BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
All public events which were to be held in Kazakhstan have been cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym Jomart Tokayev said, Trend reports with reference to the president’s Twitter.
Tokayev wrote that these measures are being taking in response to World Health Organization (WHO) naming coronavirus outbreak to be pandemic.
“WHO announced coronavirus to be pandemic. The government is beginning taking special preventive measures. Public events are being cancelled. There will be no interruptions in supplying citizens with food and essential goods,” Tokayev said.
In turn, Kazakhstan’s First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Finance Alikhan Smailov said that the ministerial meeting of World Trade Organization (WTO) which was to be held in Nur-Sultan in June has been cancelled.
Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Yeraly Tugzhanov said that the prohibition for holding public events will enter into force in Kazakhstan starting from March 13, 2020.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 4,600. Over 126,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 68,000 people have reportedly recovered.
Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.
Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems.
Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in other countries. Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.