On January 21, the Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population of Tajikistan Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda held a small press conference for media representatives regarding the infectious diseases, including coronavirus, which was registered in China for the last few days and caused the death of the people.
It should be noted that this press conference was held following a large number of journalists’ calls to the Health Ministry to find out more about this disease and the situation in Tajikistan.
It should be noted that since December 2019, the epidemiological situation of coronavirus infectious disease has become unstable in a number of Chinese provinces. According to statistical data, although the cases of this disease were before registered in a number of world’s countries, including South Korea, Thailand and Japan, but the incidence of this disease has not been seen in the last few years.
Since December 2019, this disease was reported in Chinese Wuhan city of Hubei province, and according to the WHO, as of January 20, 2020, there were only 218 cases of the disease.
“Infectious disease coronavirus is mainly amplified in domestic animals, especially poultry, cattle, and pigs, and then transmitted to humans. The main symptoms of the disease are, first of all, high fever, headache, joint and throat pain, accompanied by other symptoms, including damage to the airways and lungs, which worsen in the short term. If not treated, it can lead to death. According to statistics, the death rate from this virus is currently low in China, since many patients are diagnosed and treated in a timely manner,” said Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda regarding the origin and transmission of this disease.
“It should be noted that the coronavirus has several types. So far, 38 cases of this virus were reported. In 2014-2016, a type of middle Eastern virus was also registered in Saudi Arabia, which belonged to the family of coronavirus and its source at that time was a camel. International organizations are currently working to identify the virus that is spreading in China,” added Deputy Health Minister.
“There are sanitary quarantine services on the border line. In such emergencies – with the spread of dangerous viruses – control is tightened, and quarantine services switch to a round-the-clock mode of operation. The modern diagnostic equipments are installed at the airports of Tajikistan, and any passenger arriving from China undergoes a mandatory medical examination. In case of detecting signs of the virus, it is sent to an infectious diseases hospital in a special machine for isolation and further treatment,” stated Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda.
“The Health Ministry sent official letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Committee for Tourism Development with a request to limit the working and tourism trips of country’s citizens to those Chinese regions, where coronavirus cases were registered, until normalization of the situation with a dangerous virus,” recalled Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda.
It was also noted that the disease was registered in that Chinese territory, which has not border with Tajikistan.
Following the press conference, Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda urged journalists not to make a fuss about this issue, since the situation of infectious diseases in Tajikistan is stable and does not cause concern.
