BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 23
By Nargiz Sadikhova – Trend:
Kazakhstan’s Ministries of Healthcare, and of Trade and Integration have made changes to recommendations on operation of major trade facilities during the emergency state introduced in the country, Trend reports with reference to the ministry.
The changes allow major trade facilities (shopping centers, hypermarkets, trade houses, markets) the area of which is no less than 2,000 square kilometers to operate over the time period from 10:00 (GMT +6) till 18:00.
At the same time, the entities operating in major trade facilities and selling food items, medicines and non-food items will operate as usual with condition of strengthening sanitary and disinfection measures taken.
In turn, non-food markets will operate from 10:00 till 17:00 with condition of strengthening sanitary and disinfection measures taken. Minimarkets and stores near living complexes will also operate as usual with condition of strengthening sanitary and disinfection measures taken.
Catering facilities are allowed to operate with a number of restrictions:
- those in major trade facilities are allowed to operate only via delivery services;
- those operating outside major trade facilities must restrict time of work till 22:00, and the number of customers allowed inside at the same time must not exceed 50 people.
These recommendations apply throughout Kazakhstan.
“However, governors and chief sanitary doctors of the region in question may take additional restricting measures based on local epidemiology situation,” the ministry said.
By a decision of State Commission on Provision of Emergency State under the president of Kazakhstan quarantine regime has been introduced in Kazakhstan’s Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities at 00:00 (GMT +6) on March 19, 2020, due to coronavirus outbreak.
On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.
First two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 60 people.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
As of today, over 339,200 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 14,700. Meanwhile, over 98,800 people have reportedly recovered.
Several countries are working on a vaccine against the new virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.