Tag Archives: Coronavirus

Berdymukhamedov says chewing liquorice stops Covid

DEC. 26 2020 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that chewing liquorice is a cure for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Mr Berdymukhamedov made the statement in televised remarks to his ministers. Turkmenistan is one of the only countries in the world to still deny that it has had any cases of the coronavirus.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kazakhtan begins production of Russian Covid vaccine

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DEC. 21 2020 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has started production of Sputnik-V, the Russian vaccine for Covid-19, Russian officials said. This could mean that Kazakhstan, and other countries in Central Asia, will receive batches of the vaccine more quickly. Media reports said that the first batch of the vaccine had been sent off to Russia for quality checks.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Georgian economy shrinks by 6%

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JULY 31 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s economy was 5.8% smaller by the end of June compared to the same period in 2019 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed. This is in line with previous estimates for a coronavirus-linked recession. In the first six months of 2019, Georgia’s economy had grown by 4.9%.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Pashinyan says coronavirus has passed its peak in Armenia

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JULY 30 (The Bulletin) — Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said that the peak of the coronavirus infection rate had passed in Armenia. Armenia’s daily new infection rate is now down to around 250, compared to 550 – 600 in mid-July. Government officials said that they expected a rate of 140 new infections daily by September and to be able to reopen schools which have been shut since March. Armenia has recorded 39,050 coronavirus infections and 754 deaths.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Oil companies close Ashgabat offices on coronavirus fears

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Petronas, the Malaysian oil and gas company, closed its office in Ashgabat after 10 of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

The closure is perhaps the strongest indication yet that despite the insistence of Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that Turkmenistan had escaped the pandemic, coronavirus has infiltrated the country.

Turkmen media has also reported that Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Company has also closed its office Ashgabat. Since a visit by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this month, masks have become commonplace in Turkmenistan and some shopping centres and bazaars have been closed.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenian opposition leader continues to do business despite arrest threat

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), has been meeting with business leaders and promising to support their efforts to stave off a recession linked to the spread of the coronavirus, media reported. This is important because at the end of last month it had appeared that prosecutors were building a case to arrest Mr Tsarukyan, one of Armenia’s richest men, on various corruption allegations.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kazakhstan to extend second coronavirus lockdown

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that a second lockdown imposed at the start of July to control the coronavirus will be extended by another two weeks into mid-August. The second lockdown was supposed to have been imposed only for a fortnight to mid-July. PM Askar Mamin has said that the number of new infections per day had dropped by 30% but that they were still measuring around 1,500. Kazakhstan has recorded 92,662 coronavirus cases and 793 deaths.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kyrgyzstan decrees day of mourning for coronavirus victims

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JULY 25 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said that July 30 would be a day of mourning for people who had died from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The country has recorded 36,719 infections and 1,409 deaths. Many of the people who have died have been medical staff, infected because they had been wearing inadequate PPE.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Russia sends coronavirus kits to Tajikistan

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Russia sent 50,000 coronavirus testing kits to Tajikistan to help it track and combat the spread of the virus, Russian media reported. Tajikistan, which declared its first coronavirus case a month after its neighbours, has now recorded 7,495 cases of the coronavirus and 61 deaths.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenian banks improve profits despite coronavirus

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JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — Banks in Armenia increased their net profit in the first half of the year by 5.9%, media reported by quoting a banking lobby group. It said that despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which analysts said would cause a recession in Armenia, all 17 banks in the country had been profitable so far in 2020.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.