Kazakhstan on Friday denied claims by the Chinese Embassy that a new virus, more deadly than Covid-19, is spreading in several regions of this gigantic country in Central Asia.
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In a message to its citizens, the Chinese embassy in Nur-Sultan, the Kazakh capital, warned on Thursday against a new disease " with a mortality rate far higher than Covid-19 " which would have caused 1,772 deaths in in the first six months of 2020 and " 628 in June alone ".
The press release initially spoke of “ Kazakh pneumonia ” but this term was then replaced by “ non-Covid pneumonia ”. According to the embassy, three regions of Kazakhstan are affected and Chinese are among the victims. The claims " of the Chinese media " do not " correspond to reality ", assured the Kazakh Ministry of Health on Friday in a statement quoted by the local media, without however mentioning the statement from the Chinese Embassy.
WHO monitors
The ministry reported patients who were registered as having pneumonia, not the new coronavirus, although they had symptoms because the Covid-19 test results were negative. Asked about the press release from his embassy in Nur-Sultan, Chinese diplomacy spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that China " also wants more information, " adding that Beijing " hopes to continue working." with Kazakhstan to fight the epidemic ”.
The World Health Organization said that it was " monitoring " the situation in Kazakhstan and "was working with the authorities on the spot to investigate ". " We believe many of these cases will be diagnosed as Covid-19 but we are keeping an open mind ," said Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO health emergencies officer (Organization) World Health Organization).
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" There are other potential causes for outbreaks of atypical pneumonia ," he said, noting that " the upward trajectory of Covid-19 in the country suggests that many of these cases are in fact undiagnosed cases of Covid-19 ”. Kazakh authorities reintroduced containment measures last week to counter the upsurge in coronavirus cases: in total, the country officially registered 57,747 infections and 264 deaths on Friday, but, as among its neighbors in Central Asia, it is accused by observers and NGOs to minimize the scale of the pandemic.
The lack of good quality tests is cited as a reason for this underestimation. In an article dealing with the denial of the Ministry of Health, the pro-government site Tengri News quotes a doctor who ensures that the increase in cases of pneumonia is " a manifestation of the coronavirus ". In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, the Ministry of Health has announced that pneumonia will now be included among the cases of Covid-19.