GUWAHATI: An ‘unknown pneumonia’ in Kazakhstan has caused 1,772 deaths in just the first half of 2020 of which more than 600 people died in the month of June.
Kazakhstan shares its northwest border with China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region and the disease with a much higher fatality rate than the COVID-19 has now sparked fears in China.
The Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan has issued an advisory to its citizens residing close to the region on its WeChat platform.
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Kazakhstan national media, however, have called it Pneumonia only and couldn’t give any specific reason as to why it is being called ‘unknown pneumonia’ by the Chinese Embassy.
It is also unknown whether the World Health Organization (WHO) has been informed about this disease yet but the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan has made it clear to Chinese nationals that the situation is one that calls for stepping up of preventive measures.
Kazakhstan’s healthcare minister has reportedly said on July 9 that the number of patients that fell sick due to the pneumonia is easily twice or thrice the number of COVID-19 patients in the country.
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The country implemented a lockdown on March 16 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic; restrictions were lifted in May but re-imposed following an increase in cases.
