Health

In photos: Kyrgyz battle worsening COVID-19 pandemic

Poor quality test kits, disinformation, and a shortage of hospitals and medical personnel are worsening the crisis in Kyrgyzstan.

By Maksat Osmonaliyev

2020-07-27

A Bishkek cemetery is shown July 13. The number of graves to be dug has increased dramatically since the outbreak of the coronavirus. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

Muslims wearing masks and socially distancing worship at the Bishkek Central Mosque July 13. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

A masked dried fruit vendor waits for customers at the Osh Market in Bishkek July 13. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

Relatives wait outside a hospital in Kara-Balta July 11 to bring food and medicine to patients. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

A security guard checks a visitor's temperature outside the Madina Market in Bishkek July 13. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

Medical personnel July 8 in Bishkek guard a barricade on the grounds of the National Hospital. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

A young Kyrgyz taking the country's university entrance exam receives a dose of hand sanitiser July 13 in Bishkek. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

Passengers ride a Bishkek transit bus July 13. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]

BISHKEK -- Ever since Kyrgyz authorities in May relaxed a quarantine that they had imposed in March, cases of the novel coronavirus began to rise steadily.

As of Monday (July 27), the country had recorded more than 33,290 cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,300 deaths, according to the national headquarters for the fight against the disease.

A lack of tests and their poor quality, many of which are from China, are two reasons why coronavirus is increasingly not being diagnosed or counted as a cause of death

Worsening the situation is a shortage of hospitals, medicine and medical personnel, and a continuing campaign of disinformation from foreign powers trying to cause confusion and panic in Central Asia.