Kazakhstan Reports First Coronavirus Cases as Testing Ramps Up

(Bloomberg) --

Kazakhstan reported its first two cases of coronavirus Friday as central Asia’s biggest oil producer ramped up testing.

Two Kazakh citizens who arrived from Germany on separate flights over the last week tested positive, Health Minister Yelzhan Birtanov said at a press conference. Kazakhstan has tested 3,389 people for the virus to date and has nearly 10,000 more kits available, he said.

Kazakhstan, a country of 18 million, is treating the sick people in an Almaty hospital and is working to identify and quarantine others that were on the flights, Birtanov said.

Kazakhstan is planning to shut down schools, colleges and universities starting next week and cancel all public events in an attempt to contain the pathogen’s spread.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naubet Bisenov in Nur-Sultan at nbisenov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Jake Rudnitsky, Gregory L. White

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