Page 39 - bne Magazine Apri20

bne April 2020 Cover story I 39
Turkmenistan VIRUS UPDATE
• Number of cases as of March 26: 0 (no data available as authorities have not confirmed even a single case)
• Number of deaths as of March 26: 0
• Comment: RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reported earlier in
March that at least two Turkmen tested positive for the coronavirus at a hospital near Ashgabat, according to claims made by anonymous medical sources. The claims amounted to the first report of cases of coronavirus infections in Central Asia. Turkmen authorities have reportedly been enacting measures against the spread of the virus throughout the country. The authoritarian nature of the government is likely to prevent it from officially publicly recognising the presence of the coronavirus in the country.
PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES
• Ashgabat is reportedly under lockdown. Exceptions for entry into Ashgabat have reportedly been set up for vehicles carrying food supplies and other cargo.
• Restrictions on traffic between the country’s provinces
have reportedly also been enforced, with checkpoints
set up on highways.
• A copy of an official document obtained by RFE/RL
outlined orders for medical teams to perform body temperature checks on passengers boarding intercity trains, buses and flights.
• Public gatherings discouraged and flyers handed out to warn citizens to stay alert for respiratory infections.
• The authorities are performing disinfections of public transport.
• In the city of Turkmenabat, in Lebap Province, mosques have been shut down disinfection and will remain closed until May 1.
ECONOMIC MEASURES
ECONOMIC FORECASTS
• N/A
• N/A
Tajikistan
VIRUS UPDATE
• Number of cases as of March 26: 0 (no data available as authorities have not confirmed even a single case)
• Number of deaths as of March 26: 0
• Comment: lack of confirmed cases of the disease likely
demonstrates a lack of capacity by Tajikistan’s healthcare system to perform effective testing for the virus. The country recently organised a Nowruz spring holiday, despite initially appearing to install a few measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Tajikistan’s authorities earlier tried to reassure the Tajik population that Central Asia’s poorest country has enough food supplies with coronavirus fears having temporarily induced panic- buying that has caused food price hikes and shortages. Tajikistan, due to its dependence on remittances by Tajik migrant workers in Russia, will primarily be exposed
to the pandemic-driven global economic slowdown via a downturn in Russia.
PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES
• Flights to and from China, Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan and Italy banned (initially Tajikistan’s travel ban included 35 countries, but was downscaled). Citizens of the listed turned away at the border.
• Borders with Iran closed.
ECONOMIC MEASURES
• N/A
• N/A
ECONOMIC FORECASTS
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