Kazakhstan’s former president Nazarbayev infected by Covid-19

Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev has tested positive for Covid-19, his press service said on June 18.

“Unfortunately, the last test of Elbasy for coronavirus infection showed a positive result. There is no cause for concern,” the official website of the first president of Kazakhstan said. “At present, the First President of Kazakhstan is on self-isolation. Nazarbayev continues to work remotely,” it added

At present, also seven high-ranking officials have become infected with coronavirus in Kazakhstan, some of them have already recovered

Among the high-ranking civil servants who caught the coronavirus were the press secretary of the President of Kazakhstan, Berik Uali (recovered), the Minister of Health Yelzhan Birtanov, the speaker of the Mazhilis Nurlan Nigmatulin, the deputy of the Mazhilis Bekbolat Tleukhan, the akim of Temirtau Galym Ashimov (recovered), the oblast akim and Kamalzhan Nadyrov, head of the Almaty Public Health Department (recovered).

On June 18,  under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Askar Mamin, a selector meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission (IAC) was held to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection in Kazakhstan. Given the complication of the epidemiological situation and the increase in the incidence of coronavirus infection in several regions of Kazakhstan, the interagency commission took new restrictive measures for the weekend – June 20-21, the Prime Minister’s website reported on June 18.

In the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Karaganda, Shymkent, Pavlodar and Ekibastuz: to suspend the activities of shopping and entertainment centres, trading houses, chain stores, covered food and non-food markets, bazaars;

to allow the work of public catering facilities only in the open air in a street format while maintaining social distance; limit public transport; suspend the functioning of public places: parks, squares, embankments, beaches, water parks;

to suspend the activities of fitness centres; restrict access to the street for people over 65.

Close the entrance to tourist areas, geographically close to the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Karaganda, Shymkent, Pavlodar and Ekibastuz, in accordance with the decisions of the chief sanitary doctors of the regions, and those who are in these zones, observe social distance.

The Head of Government instructed to expand the scope of PCR testing among the population by opening additional laboratories on the basis of medical organisations; increase the number of infectious and provisional places in hospitals; conduct an active outreach to the population.