Tajikistan: people do not follow the sanitary standards

• На русском
• Тоҷикӣ

The Committee of Emergency situations (CES) and Civil defense under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in May 2020 tightened sanitary standards to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic

---

In this way, CES jointly with international organizations started the informational campaign to remind the general public about the safety measures. However, despite calls to follow the sanitary standards, very few people wear masks in Dushanbe.

In June 2020, the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses were amended to punish violations of sanitary standards.

For wearing no mask in a public place, there is a fine of 116 to 290 somoni (about US $10-25), and for the deliberate spread of infection – imprisonment for a term of 2 to 5 years provided. In the case of a repeated violation, the term of imprisonment can range from 5 to 10 years.

The presence of the virus in Tajikistan was officially recognized only at the end of April 2020. Before that, people on social media were complaining about the epidemic of a disease that was similar in symptoms to COVID-19.

Under the conditions of a lack of information on the scale of the pandemic, Tajik activists have created a website with alternative statistics of deaths from coronavirus. In response, the authorities blocked the site and imposed penalties for disseminating “inaccurate and unverified” information.

For inaccurate and unverified information about the coronavirus, individuals can be fined in the amount of 580 to 1160 somoni, (about 52-102 US dollars), and the media can expect fines from 8,700 to 11,600 somoni (about 767-1000 US dollars).

In early 2021, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon announced victory over the pandemic. According to official data, from January 15 to June 20, 2021, not a single case of COVID-19 was reported in Tajikistan.

According to the Ministry of Health, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan, 17,484 cases of coronavirus have been recorded, and there are 125 deaths as of September 24, 2021.

In March 2021, 192 thousand doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered to Tajikistan under the COVAX program from India. Former Deputy Minister of Health of the country Samariddin Alizoda said that the COVAX program provides the vaccination of 20% of the population.

The vaccination campaign in Tajikistan began on March 22, 2021, currently, according to official statistics, 16.8% of the population were fully vaccinated.

---

This material was prepared within the framework of the IWPR project “Amplify, Verify, Engage: Information for Democratisation and Good Governance in Eurasia”, funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the mentoring program of the “Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia” project, implemented by the Institute for War Reporting and Peace (IWPR) with the support of the UK Government. The content of this publication does not reflect the official views of IWPR, the Norwegian Foreign Office, or the UK Government.