The number of COVID-19 cases in Tajikistan reaches 230

The confirmed COVID-19-linked deaths have been reported in Tajikistan as of the evening of May 4.

The COVID-19 cases have been reported in all regions of the country, including 110 cases reported in Dushanbe, 22 cases in districts subordinate to the center, 7 cases in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), 21 cases in the Khatlon province and 70 cases in the Sughd province.  

Dozens of millions of dollars have come from the international community to help Tajikistan overcome the crisis.  The European Union alone has provided at least 52.2 million euros (equivalent to US$57 million) for short- and long-term COVID-19 support to be provided through partners like the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and German development agency GIZ.

Millions of dollars’ worth of other emergency support has come, in either money, logistical guidance or in-kind aid, such as PPE, thermometers and even food, from the World Bank, the United States, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, and the Asian Development Bank.

A MoHSPP says it has 100 ventilators of its own, another 10 have been supplied by the WHO and the government says it has bought another 27 units from Germany.

The Tajik government last week closed schools for two weeks and suspended the national league soccer season over the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan plans to start allowing business to resume operations as countries across the region begin to ease restrictions that were suspended over the coronavirus outbreak.

The Health Ministry said on April 30 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 746, including eight deaths, according to Eurasianet.

Neighboring Uzbekistan has begun to ease restrictions as well, announcing that, as of April 30, citizens could resume using private cars from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.  The use of private vehicles was temporarily banned in March because of the pandemic.

A day earlier, the Uzbek government extended the suspension of all flights abroad to June 30. International flights, except cargo flights, were suspended initially for one month on March 30.

According to health officials, there were 2,017 coronavirus cases, including nine deaths, in Uzbekistan as of April 30.

The largest number of coronavirus cases in the region has been officially registered in Kazakhstan, where the latest figures on April 30 were 3,273 cases with 25 deaths.

Turkmenistan is now the only Central Asian country that has not officially confirmed any coronavirus cases, which has prompted suspicions that Turkmen authorities are not accurately reporting information about the pandemic in their country.