Kazakhstan’s Health Minister Yelzhan Birtanov has been diagnosed with coronavirus, Toppress.kz correspondent reports citing minister’s official Facebook page.
Dear friends, I would like to inform you that I have tested positive for coronavirus. Unfortunately, this is not an asymptomatic form, so I have been taken to the infectious disease hospital, he said.
Despite all the strict sanitary measures that I had followed, the risk is always there. This is especially true for those who cannot work remotely. In recent days, in a number of regions there has been an increase in COVID-19, including among entrepreneurs, employees of enterprises, doctors, government employees, and media workers. Many of our citizens are now working hard to solve the problems caused by the consequences of the global crisis and pandemic in Kazakhstan. Very often we have to hold in-person meetings and travel across the country, so we are more at risk of COVID-19, Minister Birtanov stressed.
He therefore urged all Kazakhstanis to observe “personal quarantine” and follow the recommendations for the prevention of coronavirus.
As of June 14, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kazakhstan totalled 14,496. A total of 73 deaths have been reported since the pandemic began.