Bahrom Almatov: Persons, who have been in contact with a citizen infected with coronavirus, will be isolated

Bahrom Almatov, Director of the Agency for Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing under the Ministry of Health, delivered a video message on the penetration of the coronavirus into Uzbekistan. He said that persons, who had been in contact with the infected citizen, will be isolated.

“On March 14, 4,800 people arrived in the Republic through 38 international flights, 1,860 people – by rail and 38,000 – via border posts. Most of them came from Russia, Kazakhstan and European countries, where the disease was recorded.

In the process of crossing the border, they underwent an initial medical examination, their body temperature was measured.

7,781 citizens, who returned from countries with an unfavorable epidemiological situation, were taken under medical supervision at home. Of these, 5,600 medical observations were accomplished as the latent period of the disease had ended. Today, medical monitoring of the health status of 2,100 citizens continues.

On March 15, at 06:00 in the laboratory of the Institute of Virology, 1 citizen of Uzbekistan, who returned from France, was diagnosed with COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

Currently, epidemiological studies and preventive measures aimed at sropping the spread of the disease are being carried out.

The current situation is not a concern. A complete list of people, who interacted with this patient and the list of passengers arriving from France has been compiled, work is being done to determine their place of residence and establish medical supervision on them. All anti-epidemic measures are being carried out.

People should not panic after this news. The disease occurs in mild form in 80% of cases, moderate severity – in 15% of cases, severe – in only 5% of cases. Cases of severe disease are observed in older people with chronic diseases.

We see that more than 50% of those infected have fully recovered and returned to normal life. Therefore, we ask our citizens not to panic, strictly observe the rules of personal hygiene, keep their homes clean. We always recommend people to use disinfectants and wash their hands after using the public transport,” he said.

If you have additional questions about the situation with the COVID-19 coronavirus infection, you can contact the Agency for Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing under the Ministry of Health at 71 276-49-66.