From July 12 to August 9, 1,650 new cases were diagnosed in Uzbekistan, according to the Ministry of Healthcare. As of August 2022, 243,000 cases of the coronavirus had been diagnosed in the country during the pandemic, with a total of 1,637 victims.
All restrictive measures have now been lifted in the country. And there is currently no talk about whether they will be reintroduced.
The gradual relaxation of quarantine measures in Uzbekistan began on August 15, 2020. In the beginning, public catering facilities resumed their work, and domestic air and rail transportation, as well as the operation of transport, was allowed. At the same time, certain quarantine compliance conditions remained, such as wearing masks, taking PCR tests, etc.
Since then, no tightening of quarantine measures has been observed in Uzbekistan. Today, large COVID centers, which received and treated critically ill patients during the peak of the pandemic, are closed.
However, specialized COVID clinics continue their work. Such dispensaries work around the clock and are set up for the initial determination of a patient’s condition.
Meanwhile, this year the detection of cases of coronavirus began to increase in mid-June.
This was the expected increase in the incidence of disease, said Doniyor Mirazimov, director of the Zangiata Specialized Multiprofile Hospital for Infectious Diseases No. 2. Because with the onset of summer and higher temperatures, the virus spreads faster.
“Among those who fall ill, the stealth-omicron variant predominates. The virus is the same “Omicron”, but you can catch it much faster. However, the disease is easy, affects the lungs less, and the rehabilitation period is faster. Now about 30% of the total number of patients are hospitalized. With delta strain, the percentage was up to 90%,” the doctor says.
According to him, compared with June and July, in August the number of cases decreased. The national average for 7 days this month is about 34 new cases per day. In June, the average was about 81.
Vaccinations and treatment protocols
According to official data, as of August 2022, the number of vaccinated people is close to 20 million and is 57.69% of the total population of 35 million. A booster dose of the vaccine was given to 12 million citizens.
In addition to the Uzbek-Chinese vaccine, such vaccines as Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinovac, Sputnik Light, Sputnik V, ZF2001 are currently available and approved in Uzbekistan.
New strains were also identified during the pandemic in Uzbekistan: “omicron”, “delta strain”, “stealth omicron”. Vaccines against the new type of virus became available in Uzbekistan in a short period of time after its detection.
In February 2021 the Chinese company Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, considering the contribution and efforts of local scientists during the testing of the vaccine in the republic, recognized Uzbekistan as a co-author of the ZF-UZ-VAC-2001 vaccine.
A study of the effectiveness of the Uzbek-Chinese vaccine against the new strains, as assured by the Ministry of Innovative Development, found the vaccine to be 81.76 percent effective against all strains, 92.93 percent against the “alpha” strain, and 77.54 percent against the “delta” strain.
But there have been many negative comments about the vaccine among the public. On social media, citizens were inclined to believe that the domestic vaccine was ineffective, preferring foreign vaccines that had proven themselves around the world. However, there is no official data on which vaccines Uzbeks prefer.
“I got the AstraZeneca vaccine because it was recommended by my friend who lives in Malta. I chose a vaccine based on reviews and various reports. Most of all, of course, I was interested in the effects and effectiveness of the drug,” Akmal Saidov, a local resident, told CABAR.asia.
According to observations, the top vaccines among Uzbeks were the Swedish-British AstraZeneca, the Russian Sputnik V, the American Moderna, the American-German Pfizer/BioNTech and the Chinese CoronaVac.
As the pandemic progressed, the treatment protocol for patients infected with COVID-19 changed in the country, as it did throughout the world.
If at the beginning of the pandemic, due to the lack of research on the new disease, when prescribing drugs, doctors could not always predict how a certain group of drugs would affect patients, for example those with chronic diseases, now the treatment algorithm is clearer.
Bakhodir Mamatkulov, a practicing virologist at a Tashkent clinic, told CABAR.asia that prescriptions and dosage are not made publicly available.
“In the first months of the pandemic, when everyone was gripped by panic, citizens shared with each other on social media prescriptions for treatments that were prescribed to their acquaintances. First, this caused a rush and then an increase in the price of certain drugs against the coronavirus. Attempts to self-medicate appeared. In both cases, the situation is absurd. One prescription cannot fit everyone. And attempts to ‘cure’ without the participation of doctors ended miserably,” said Mamatkulov.
COVID-19 no longer scares Uzbeks
While treatment for the coronavirus is prescribed on a case-by-case basis, people are asked to follow the basic recommendations made during the pandemic.
But the situation in the city of Tashkent looks somewhat different. Now new virus strains no longer scare Uzbeks. During the pandemic society got used to the threat of covid. That’s why it’s extremely rare to see a person wearing a mask in the city today. Buses and subway cars are packed during rush hours and there is no need to keep a distance.
Now the situation has stabilized around the country. All state and private companies work as usual. Mass events are allowed.
A PCR test certificate is not required to enter Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Health continues to keep statistics on the number of cases and victims of coronavirus.