Tajikistan: authorities hide the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19

The Minister of Health of Tajikistan, Jamoliddin Abdullozoda, said that not a single doctor was infected with COVID-19 in medical institutions. According to alternative statistics, more than 70 health workers have died due to COVID-19.

During the press conference, the Minister of Health often avoided journalists’ questions, including regarding the number of COVID-19 positive doctors. “There has never been a case that a doctor became infected at the workplace while treating patients from coronavirus and died because of it. A doctor, as an ordinary citizen, due to lack of hygiene, sanitary and epidemiological standards, could become infected on the street, at home, in public places, ”the minister said.

Recall that ACCA has repeatedly published materials that Tajik medical workers have a shortage of PPE, as a result, many of them got infected with COVID-19. Despite huge consignments of humanitarian aid arriving in Tajikistan from different countries, doctors received practically no assistance. At first, doctors were forced to buy protective equipment, and then civil activists began to help them, collecting money from the people to purchase PPE.

Abdullozoda also questioned the statistics that are being conducted by activists in the country on counting the deaths of citizens due to COVID-19. Recall, according to alternative statistics, 446 people have died from COVID-19 in the country, including more than 70 employees of medical institutions.

“The statistics of the Ministry of Health is accurate and well-grounded, since specialists give an opinion on each death based on analyses,” the minister said. “The statistics from other websites should be considered as unreliable.”

Officially, the authorities have acknowledged only 58 deaths of citizens from COVID-19 to date.

The Minister of Health also stressed that the situation in the country with COVID-19 is stabilizing, noting that a second wave is expected.

Meanwhile, a special commission from among representatives of the Ministry of Health is already working in the north of the country. According to an ACCA source in the Sughd Region Health Department, the second wave of COVID-19 has already begun in Isfara and Babadjan-Gafurov regions.

“The authorities hide the real situation, prohibit informing people, which can lead to the same situation as in neighboring countries,” the ACCA source said. – Many patients with coronavirus are kept at home. At the same time, a special commission is already checking the readiness of hospitals for the second wave, but the second wave has already begun in Isfara and the village of Hirstevarz.

Note that it is these two regions of the north of Tajikistan that closely border Kyrgyzstan, where today the situation with COVID-19 is breaking all records. ACCA and the doctor of the Sogd regional hospital reported an increase in the number of incoming patients.

“Our hospital now accepts only patients in severe condition,” said the doctor. – The hospital management refuses the rest, advising to be treated at home. Some still manage to place their relatives with a mild form in the hospital, but this is only through linkages. ”

Independent media in Tajikistan cannot question the official data of the authorities, citing alternative sources, since on July 4 this year, President Emomali Rahmon signed a new law that allows the media and citizens to be fined for disseminating false information.