BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 17
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Akimat (administrative center) of Kazakhstan’s Nur-Sultan city will made a decision on possible closing of the city, Spokesperson of Kazakhstan’s Healthcare Ministry Dias Akhmetsharip said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.
Akhmetsharip said that the issue of city closing is related to identification of 14 new coronavirus cases in Nur-Sultan. The decision on the topic will be made today (March 17, 2020).
He said that all 14 patients arrived in Kazakhstan from various cities.
“More information will be provided by the city’s akimat during the briefing. Those who tested positive for the most part called the ambulance themselves,” Akhmetsharip said.
Commenting on measures which could be taken due to the sharp increase in the number of those infected, Akhmetsharip said that local authorities will be making corresponding decisions today.
”We are waiting for updates. There is a possibility that the city will be closed,” he said.
Today, March 17, 2020, 14 new coronavirus cases have been detected in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan.
Thus, the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan reaches 27 cases.
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 7,000. Over 182,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 79,000 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.
Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
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