BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained rules for exit from and entrance to the country within the framework of the emergency state in Kazakhstan, Trend reports with reference to the ministry.
On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which will be relevant from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.
During the state of emergency, a restriction will be introduced on entry and exit through the state border for the citizens of Kazakhstan and foreign states, with the exception of:
- citizens of Kazakhstan who previously left the country – upon their return to Kazakhstan;
- citizens of Kazakhstan traveling abroad for treatment – upon presentation of supporting documents of healthcare institutions;
- foreigners who previously entered Kazakhstan – for their departure from Kazakhstan;
- staff of the diplomatic service of Kazakhstan and foreign states and members of their families, as well as members of delegations of foreign states and international organizations traveling to Kazakhstan at the invitation of country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- members of train, locomotive, aircraft and sea crews;
- service personnel of foreign cross-border facilities on the territory of Kazakhstan and service personnel of Kazakh cross-border facilities on the territory of neighboring states;
- foreign passengers traveling on transit passenger trains – if they left and were en route before restrictions came into force (until 08.00 on March 16, 2020);
- foreigners (stateless persons), holders of Kazakh residence permits;
- foreigners who are family members of citizens of Kazakhstan (subject to confirmation of kinship – spouses, parents and children).
The ministry said that the passing is also to be suspended for local residents through the border-crossing points on the Kazakh-Russian state border with the exception of cases of emergency medical assistance to citizens.
On March 13, 2020, first two cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 9.
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 6,500. Over 169,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 77,000 people have reportedly recovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
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