According to the data from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP), three new officially confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in Tajikistan over the past weekends (Saturday and Sunday), bringing a total number of the officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country to 13,308 as of the morning of January 11, 2021.  

No new officially confirmed coronavirus cases were reportedly registered in Tajikistan on December 31, January 1, 3 4, 6, 7 and 8.  

The number of coronavirus-linked deaths remains the same in the country – 90, a MoHSPP says. 

Meanwhile, the number of cured COVId-19 patients in Tajikistan almost equaled the number of infected.  24 COVID-19 patients reportedly discharged after recovery over the past weekends.  In all, 13,215 coronavirus patients have reportedly recovered in the country as of the morning of January 11, 2021.    The difference between the number of the infected people and the cured COVId-19 patients is 93 people.            

The COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).  The virus was confirmed to have spread to Tajikistan when its index cases, in Dushanbe and Khujand, were confirmed on April 30, 2020.     

The virus is reportedly affecting 218 countries and territories around the world and two international conveyances.  

As far as the Central Asian region is concerned, the virus reportedly exposed weaknesses in every country, particularly in health-care systems, but it also affected trade and tested alliances.

The responses from the five Central Asia’s nations differed.  According to Radio Liberty, this was most evident in their official reporting on registered cases and deaths, where countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, even though their figures were often questionable, released statistics that showed the countries were facing a serious health crisis, while countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan carefully manipulated figures to ensure an outward appearance of controlling the situation.  And then there was Turkmenistan, which chose complete denial and continues its farcical claims that the country has somehow been immune to the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, turkmen.news says people in Ashgabat yesterday mourned the loss of known Turkmen composer Rejep Rejepov, who reportedly died of complications caused by the coronavirus infection.