BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 16
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan is suspending operation of passenger trains on a number of transit and international route due to emergency state in the country, Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Berik Kamaliyev said at a press conference, Trend reports.
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.
Kamaliyev said that the suspension will be introduced on the trains going through territory of Kazakhstan when coming from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, excluding trains from Russia.
He added that the operation of Almaty - Tashkent, Almaty - Nukus trains will also be suspended, whereas operation of trains between Kazakhstan and Russia will be permitted on condition that no foreigners board the train.
The passenger trains from Russia to Petropavl city (North Kazakhstan region) will be prohibited to enter Kazakhstan, the vice minister said.
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 10.
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.