The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan will soon submit a plan to ease quarantine to President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev. From August 1, separate statistics will be kept on pneumonia caused by a presumably coronavirus. This was announced by Minister Alexei Tsoi. The new approach "will make it possible to make correct predictions of morbidity," although "it will lead to a deterioration in Kazakhstan's position in the international ranking of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus infection."
The situation with COVID-19 in Kazakhstan is the most discussed today, since nothing has radically changed recently. The promised mass testing has not been carried out. Hospitals are overcrowded, many patients are treated at home, although the Ministry of Health urges not to self-medicate. But there are not enough doctors, and those that exist are exhausted. The drug shortage remains completely. Mortality is on the rise. The country has recorded 610 deaths from coronavirus. Another 150 deaths are pending before the commissions. At the same time, as noted by Alexei Tsoi, 234 thousand cases of pneumonia were recorded in the republic, but how many of them are caused by the coronavirus, and how many are of a different nature, is now impossible to isolate.
It was assumed that from August 1, Kazakhstan will switch to a new classification of coronavirus infection in its citizens. If earlier community-acquired pneumonia was not taken into account, then, at the insistence of the WHO, the authorities of Kazakhstan promised to add it to the statistics on COVID-19. This has already been done by neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also recommended that the Ministry of Health determine the statistics on pneumonia. "All data on the situation with the pandemic, no matter how sad they may be, should become the property of society. The more transparency and mutual trust, the faster we will together cope with this scourge," Tokayev wrote on Twitter.
On July 17, Aleksey Tsoi announced the unification of statistics as a decision already made. "Statistics on morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 will be formed from two sources of data - laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 and viral pneumonia, unspecified, but with similar symptoms," he said. The head of the Ministry of Health noted that the new approach "will make it possible to make correct predictions of morbidity," although "it will lead to a deterioration in Kazakhstan's position in the international ranking of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus infection."
However, at the last moment, the Ministry of Health changed its mind and decided not to combine the data on COVID-19 with the already available data on pneumonia. Apparently, concern for the image came to the fore. Although it is hardly worth worrying about - Kazakhstan entered the top 30 world leaders in the incidence of coronavirus.
"We will show the coronavirus, which was officially detected according to the test results. Plus, we will separately show pneumonia, which has similar symptoms to the coronavirus, including mortality," Tsoi said.
Exit from quarantine, according to the minister, will depend on what the situation with the spread of coronavirus infection will be on August 2. "Now we are developing a plan. Literally in the near future we want to voice these approaches. We connect international experience, a lot of experts are connected. How countries got out of quarantine, what measures. It is clear that there will be no relief immediately," Tsoi said. He stressed that the concessions will be introduced in stages, the epidemiological situation will be assessed, including in each region.
Kazakh expert Marat Shibutov believes that a turning point in the fight against coronavirus will come in the next couple of weeks. "Minister Aleksey Tsoi clearly identified all the bottlenecks in the confrontation with the coronavirus - from tests to oxygen in regional hospitals. And, accordingly, he told how he would deal with them. There are many measures - from interest-free loans to wholesale drug importers by akimats to special 100 buses with diagnostic equipment for rural areas. In general, in my opinion, a professional person and understands well what needs to be done. I think in the next couple of weeks there will be a turning point in the fight against coronavirus, "Shibutov wrote on his Facebook page.
Meanwhile, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Dauren Abayev noted that the scale of the coronavirus threat in Kazakhstan was underestimated. "There are many questions about the situation with the coronavirus. I would like to give clarifications on some of them. Today, at almost all levels of government there is a clear understanding that the scale of the threat was underestimated. There is a full awareness of responsibility. And, of course, of all this will be the necessary conclusions have been drawn, "Abaev wrote on his Facebook page. He clarified that the conclusions do not mean resignations at the level of heads of cities and regions or ministers, but a systemic restructuring of public administration.
"The state apparatus needs to get rid of unusual functions, transfer them to private hands, to civil society. The civil service should become more attractive for strong specialists with good education and experience. Certain legal aspects of work also need to be changed. For example, in the conditions of an emergency, akimats simply lost time to acquire drugs due to lengthy formal procurement procedures. You can scold them as much as you like, but tomorrow they would still have to prove to the inspection authorities that this is not a corruption scheme, but simply a desire to save lives. And there were enough such examples, "Abaev said.
