Kazakhstan Reports Surge in COVID-19 Negative Pneumonia Patients

Chinese Media Reports 628 Deaths from Unidentified Pneumonia in June
Kazakhstan Health Authorities Diagnose Around 300 Pneumonia Cases Daily

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Chinese-language media reported that pneumonia patients who tested negative for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are emerging one after another in Kazakhstan.

On the 10th, according to China's state-run Global Times and Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan urged its nationals to be cautious about this issue through its WeChat (China's version of KakaoTalk) account.

The Chinese Embassy reported that 1,772 people died from unidentified pneumonia in Kazakhstan in the first half of this year alone. In particular, 628 people died in June alone.

The Chinese Embassy stated, "The fatality rate of the unidentified pneumonia is much higher than that of COVID-19," and "Kazakhstan's health authorities are currently studying the pneumonia virus." The embassy added that it has not been determined whether this unidentified pneumonia is related to COVID-19.

Kazakhstan's health authorities said, "About 300 people are diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized every day." They also said that the number of pneumonia patients currently is 2 to 3 times higher than the number of COVID-19 infected patients.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Kazakhstan was 49,683 as of the 7th, with 264 deaths among them.

Due to the spread of COVID-19, the Kazakhstan government declared a state of emergency on March 16 but lifted the lockdown on May 11. However, due to the spread of unidentified pneumonia and other factors, some regions are reinforcing restrictions and quarantine measures again.

Kazakhstan is a country bordering the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. Chinese experts have argued that measures are needed to prevent the inflow of this pneumonia into China.