The Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan claimed on Thursday that a mysterious pneumonia virus in Kazakhstan is sweeping the country which has a much bigger death rate than Coronavirus. The Chinese embassy warned its citizens in Kazakhstan saying that the nature of this mysterious pneumonia virus is still not known. However, the health officials of Kazakhstan have denied this claim.
This mysterious Pneumonia virus in Kazakhstan has claimed the lives of 1772 people in the first half of the year which include 628 deaths including Chinese citizens in the month of June alone, as per the embassy. The most affected areas are the regions of Shymkent, Atyrau, and Aktobe as the combined cases from these three regions exceed 500 patients.
The embassy warned Chinese residents in Kazakhstan to limit going out and also not to go to crowded places. It also encouraged them to wear masks, wash hands frequently, disinfect spaces, and allow air circulation when indoors.
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The cases of pneumonia in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan, is almost double now as compared to June last year. The health department of Nursultan said that almost 200 people were being admitted daily to the hospitals but now this number has increased to 300 a day and some are also being treated at home.
The Chinese ministry of foreign affairs when asked about the outbreak said that they are looking for more information on this virus and that China will work together with Kazakhstan to safeguard the two countries and also to fight the outbreak.
The cases of Pneumonia in Kazakhstan have increased by 300% from 7,964 cases in June of last year to 32,724 cases this June. The deaths related to pneumonia have also increased by 129% from last June, from 279 in June last year to 628 this year.
The Health Minister of Kazakhstan recently said that the number of patients affected by this Pneumonia virus is two or three times more than that of Covid19. The minister also said that the public has the right to know the exact number of people infected and therefore the accurate tallies will be revealed next week.
On Friday, however, the health ministry of Kazakhstan labeled Chinese reports on the virus as fake news. The ministry said that the number of cases of fungal, bacterial, and viral pneumonia, including cases with unclear causes is in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the registration of pneumonia cases.
Chinese experts are worried that this unidentified pneumonia virus in Kazakhstan may enter China as both the countries share a border where free trade is allowed. However, currently, all international flights and cross border buses are suspended in Kazakhstan due to Covid-19.
Right now, it is still unclear if this surge in pneumonia cases in Kazakhstan is due to COVID or any new virus. The president of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the current situation is of great concern and that the people of Kazakhstan are facing the 2nd wave of coronavirus along with a huge rise in pneumonia cases.
Kazakhstan has imposed a 2nd lockdown due to its increased number of coronavirus cases. The country has recorded almost 55000 coronavirus cases with 264 deaths. But this new pneumonia virus is making the officials very worried about the situation.