ALMATY/ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan says it has not registered any COVID-19 coronavirus cases, but the World Health Organization wants the Central Asian country to take measures as if it had.
Concluding a visit to Turkmenistan on Wednesday (Jul 15), a WHO mission said the former Soviet republic should take steps such as identifying people with suspected cases, isolating and testing them, tracing their contacts and treating the sick.
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It should also report any unusual observations to the WHO, the mission said.
"WHO advises activating critical public health measures in Turkmenistan as if COVID-19 was circulating," said Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, told a briefing.
"We are aware of and concerned of reports of acute respiratory disease or pneumonia," Smallwood said.
She credited the government's "recent activation of stronger measures" as part of efforts to prevent the potential spread of the virus in the country.
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Smallwood added that authorities in the reclusive country of around six million people had conducted 60,000 coronavirus tests, citing official figures.
"The actions taken in Turkmenistan will have impact for the people in the country, but also throughout Central Asia, Europe and the world," Smallwood warned.
The WHO mission did not question the lack of cases in Turkmenistan, which puts it in a small club alongside North Korea and a handful of island nations.
Turkmenistan suspended rail links between provinces this week, closed large shopping venues and banned mass gatherings, but the government did not cite COVID-19 as the reason. It said it was taking precautions against viruses, dust and other harmful substances carried across the region by the wind.
Turkmen healthcare minister Nurmukhammet Amannepesov, who spoke alongside Smallwood, said the government was concerned about "air masses formed in the environmental disaster area" of the dried-up Aral Sea.
Deputy Prime Minister Rashid Meredov told the same bRead More – Source
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