BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan has canceled its annual Astana Economic Forum amid coronavirus spread, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance told Trend.
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.
Originally the Astana Economic Forum was to be held within the framework of the ministerial meeting of World Trade Organization (WTO), which was to be held in Nur-Sultan on June 8-11, 2020.
However, earlier this months Kazakhstan’s First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Finance Alikhan Smailov said that the ministerial meeting of WTO has been cancelled.
Thus, the Astana Economic Forum has also been cancelled.
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 4,700. Over 128,000 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.