Kazakhstan’s head of state Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on the Government to begin preparations for a long-term pandemic of the coronavirus along with emergency measures. A national plan is to be developed for the protection of life and health of Kazakhstanis in the mid-term, according to the Akorda press service.
"It is a dangerous disease for the treatment of which there is no vaccine yet. But you should not give in to panic and, moreover, allow illegal actions, insult doctors and violate the sanitary regime. Patients should not fall into anxiety and pessimism. All our efforts are aimed at preserving the main wealth of our country - the life and health of our citizens," the President told a meeting on measures countering the spread of coronavirus infection.
During the meeting on measures to counteract the spread of coronavirus infection, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed to study the possibility of re-introducing strict quarantine in Kazakhstan.
The President noted that the interdepartmental commission was unable to fully provide the necessary operational and strict coordination, monitoring and control of execution.
“I ask to take all decisions on combating the pandemic, eliminating negative social and economic impact within the framework of the relevant State Commission under the leadership of the Prime Minister. The State Commission should provide centralized control over the distribution of critical resources.”
The State Commission is to work out in two days the proposal on the introduction of strict quarantine by analogy with the one of March-May of the current year.
Tokayev criticized information work on the fight against COVID-19 in Kazakhstan, according to the spokesman for the RK President, Berik Uali, as saying on Facebook.
Tokayev noted that many complaints had been received from the population due to the wide spread of the disease.
“About a thousand questions were asked through the website www.coronavirus2020.kz. Only a third of them were answered. As a result of this attitude, the amount of negative and false information is growing. This makes our work even more complicated. The method of information work should be completely changed. Why don’t you organize daily programs giving tips and answers to questions? It is necessary to explain to people the procedure for seeking medical help. We need to talk about the rules for the use of remedies,” the President said.
Tokayev noted that many leaders had failed to fulfill their duties in a satisfactory way. According to him, in connection with this, the President reprimanded the mayor of Shymkent, governors of Aktobe and Pavlodar regions, and the head of the Interdepartmental Commission E. Tugzhanov.
Mayors of Nur-Sultan and Almaty A. Kulginov and B. Sagintayev, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry A. Zhumagaliyev were reproved too.
The President warned the governors of Atyrau, Kostanai, West Kazakhstan regions about the need to rectify the situation in their incumbencies. As he emphasized, this applies to the leaders of all the regions.
Reported by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.
