After the lift of emergency on May 10, Kyrgyzstan encountered dramatic increase in the number of confirmed cases – more than 27 times, from one thousand to 27.1 thousand people. From the moment restrictions were lifted until today, the country has 387 confirmed coronavirus cases every day in average.
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As of July 22, 2020, every 225 th Kyrgyzstani has Covid-19, every 26 th case has died, and every second confirmed case has recovered.
Just recently it became known that South Korea started to require foreigners arriving from high-risk countries to submit a certificate showing they tested negative for COVID-19, according to The Korea Times. This list includes Kyrgyzstan along with Bangladesh,Pakistan and Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Euronews reported that Kyrgyzstanis may be banned from entering Europe. The reason for that were high infection rates among people.
Every 180 th Bishkek resident
The biggest number of confirmed cases is concentrated in the capital of Kyrgyzstan — 5,827 people (as of July 16, 2020, before the data was consolidated with community-acquired pneumonia cases). Before the restrictions were lifted, there were as low as 266 confirmed cases. The increase almost by 22 times is caused by higher economic activity in Bishkek.
According to the National Statistical Committee, the capital has 12.8 thousand operating companies (small to big businesses), including 83.59 per cent of small businesses.
CABAR.asia analysed the report on business inspections for compliance with health requirements amid the pandemic (from April 30 to June 19) and found out public places with highest risk of coronavirus spreading.
Dangerous work …
According to sanitary and epidemiological requirements, enterprises and business must:
- Organise transportation of workers who must wear masks, keep social distance, organise wet cleaning with the use of disinfectants;
- Organise air filtration systems at the entrance and measure body temperature by non-contact thermometers, organise the entry of visitors who must wear masks or respirators;
- Ensure social distance of 1.5-2 metres between workers and visitors;
- Ensure availability of hand sanitizers near the entrance and conditions for hand hygiene (soap);
- Ensure ventilation of the premises 4-5 times a day, 15 minutes each, treatment of premises and surfaces with disinfectants.
According to analysis based on ratio of the number of facilities inspected and sanitary orders issued, the highest risk to get infected in Bishkek was found during visits to toy and children’s clothing stores. Clothing and cosmetics boutiques are on the second place. Trade pavilions selling vehicle spare parts, household supplies and furniture are on the third place.
The situation is similar in the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Stores, shopping malls and markets head the list, vehicle service stations, car washes and car service centres are on the second and third places.
However, there is a difference. For example, in Talas region, “red zone” includes banks, in Dzhalal-Abad region, food industry; in Naryn region, industrial facilities (other regions could not be analysed due to the lack of full information).
These data are indirect, yet significant. Those entrepreneurs who ignore today sanitary conditions amid the pandemic put not only their workers, but also ordinary Kyrgyzstanis at risk.
For 2.5 months, 7,361 facilities were inspected, 8,420 writs for violation of sanitary norms were issued in the amount of 3.033 million som (39.12 thousand dollars).
On the basis of such inspections, it may be concluded that sellers, taxi drivers and workers of car repair shops are at highest risk of contamination. However, health workers who risk their lives to save the lives of Kyrgyzstanis are still on the first place by Covid-19 incidence.
Every 11 th confirmed coronavirus case in Kyrgyzstan is a health worker.