Turkmenistan publishes neither the statistics pertaining to the COVID-19 cases nor cases of pneumonia which the overwhelming majority of those who experience COVID-19 symptoms are diagnosed with.
It is therefore impossible to give an unbiased assessment of the scope of COVID-19 outbreak in Turkmenistan.However, both Turkmen residents and doctors interviewed by correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” believe that there have not been so many COVID-19 cases or COVID-related deaths compared to the previous outbreaks.
All respondents said that either they or their family members or friends had tested positive and recovered.
For reasons of security the editorial board does not publish the names and other personal details of the respondents by which they could be identified.
The Turkmenistan-based readers of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” who took part in the survey on COVID-19 agree with this opinion. 48 respondents said that neither they nor their family members had any symptoms. 76 people had tested positive and recovered and 192 respondents have friends or family members who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 (47 respondents reside together with family members who had tested positive and recovered).
Hospitals
If a person has COVID-19 symptoms, he will be admitted to hospital only if he tests positive and has an X-ray confirming over 50% lung damage.
Otherwise, patients must be treated at home by general practitioners.Healthcare practitioners from an Ashgabat clinic said that a much larger number of patients was recorded in late August but their symptoms were different from those previously diagnosed with “pneumonia”.
A patient often seeks medical assistance with complaints of high temperature but there is no cough and an X-ray does not show any damage to lungs.The patient is prescribed home treatment but a few days later he is transported by ambulance in a critical condition.
Doctors confess that they have no clue of what is going on and therefore prescribe a similar treatment and a set of medications to patients. For 10 consecutive days IVs, antiviral injections and antibiotics must be administered to patients. These procedures need to be performed in district outpatient clinics.
Long queues form in front of all pharmacies. According to the respondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, many patients cannot afford to purchase the medications prescribed to them and buy only some. The economic slump has negatively affected the financial situation of residents.
Outpatient clinics are also overcrowded.People line up in separate queues: to get vaccinated, to obtain a vaccination certificate and to be administered an IV or injections.
On average people spend approximately one hour standing in each queue.Social distancing of 2 meters is not observed because it is impossible given the number of patients.
In other words, those who come to get vaccinated and patients with COVID-19 symptoms spend at least an hour together in confined space.
Vaccination
On July 7 the newspaper “Neitralny Turkmenistan” published a statement released by the Ministry of Healthcare, pursuant to which residents over 18 are “subject” to vaccination if they have no medical conditions that could prevent them from being vaccinated.
In other words, the Ministry announced mandatory vaccination of residents.
Since then family practitioners go door to door to encourage residents to an outpatient clinic for vaccinations. According to some respondents, GPs have not visited all apartment blocks and some residents have not yet been paid a visit. Others say that in some districts doctors phone all residents strongly urging them to get vaccinated.
In Ashgabat there are many who refuse to get vaccinated.Healthcare practitioners try to persuade them “to get a good vaccine” implying the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V”, a new batch of which was delivered to Turkmenistan on 27 August.
They also explain that in any case they will have to get vaccinated in the near future because people will be barred from boarding planes, accessing train stations or denied employment if they do not hold any relevant vaccination certificate.
In addition, there will soon be a charge for the vaccine, which is currently free.
In the meantime Chinese СоrоnаVас (Vero Cell) manufactured by Sinovac and the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” are being administered.
An Ashgabat-based family practitioner divulged that they are being pressured to ensure a 100% vaccination rate among all district residents of .
Those who have been vaccinated are issued a certificate which indicates the name of the vaccine and the vaccination date, but does not specify the name of the person.
At the same time, in order to obtain a permit to board a plane or to be employed a vaccination certificated with the person’s name is required.These certificates are issued only in one office in the outpatient clinic which must later be verified with the chief physician’s stamp.
This results in long queues where people can spend up to 4 or 5 hours.
Death rate
In Ashgabat and in Akhal the number of deaths velayat has increased considerably. About 100 people were buried in one week in late August in a small village of Kherrikgala located between Abadan and Ashgabat. Two women from the same household died in the Ashgabat district of Khitrovka.
Several sources reported numerous deaths in the Railroad hospital of Ashgabat and in the hospital in the village of Yzgant. Every day up to twenty patients diagnosed with “pneumonia” die in overcrowded infectious diseases hospitals of the village.
Residents of the 1st district (Gaýynsyz) in the city of Tejen say that there are infected people in every household, including children. The municipal administration has allocated a plot of land for a new cemetery close to the administrative border with Mary velayat because the old one has run out of space.
Since last week unofficial quarantine has been imposed in the city with patrolling in the residential district. On the first days conscripts were mobilized for this purpose but now they have been replaced with people in civilian clothes.
Residents of the city complain that they cannot afford to purchase medications and vitamins recommended by doctors.
In the meantime, according to correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, the number of people attending funerals and commemoration ceremonies has dropped considerably. Friends, acquaintances and neighbours used to come to pay respect to the deceased whereas now only close relatives attend the funeral.
In hospitals bodies are handed over to relatives in bags and they are instructed to bury them immediately without taking the body to the house.
Acknowledging potential consequences and seeing first hand what is going on in hospitals, residents have become more responsible with regard to their own safety despite the fact that many used to perceive COVID-19 restrictions as a whim of officials who constantly violate regulations.
Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19
Following closure of restaurants, cafes, the convention centers and shopping malls, now hairdressing salons, beauty parlors and other shops rendering consumer services are also being closed in Ashgabat.
In parks police officers disperse groups of high school students, whose summer break has been extended.Effective 30 August, 2021 mosques were closed in the capital.
Official reports on imposing a curfew in Ashgabat have not been published but after 10 p.m. police officers ask people on the streets to go home. Law enforcement officers occasionally patrol neighbourhoods and through loud speakers request residents to stay at home.
Upon entering to hospitals and other institutions, as well as shops, which are still open, visitors need to use hand sanitizer.
City buses are disinfected at the final stop of each run.
Police officers make sure masks are worn not only by pedestrians but also by car drivers and passengers. The vehicles of those violating the mask mandate are immediately towed away to a car pound where owners need to pay all accrued fines.
It is highly unlikely that the vehicle will be returned the same day as the fines are checked by several inspectors responsible for different violations.Each inspector has a separate window where owners need to approach.
Records from CCTV cameras, radar guns and parking violations will be checked separately.After all inspections the fines need to be paid at сash registers, with long queues in front of them.
No measures are being taken to streamline the process of obtaining documents.Visitors rush from one window to another.Social distancing is observed.
Neither state-run print media or television cover the imposed restrictions.Newspapers occasionally publish reminders to keep social distancing, wear masks and wash hands but these measures are explained by seasonal diseases.
On 1 September, 2021 Turkmenistan’s Healthcare Ministry forwarded a text message to the country’s residents urging them to wear masks due to “an increased level of dust particles in the air”.
Indirect confirmation of the COVID-19 outbreak
On 25 August a government session was held to review the performance of Turkmenistan’s Emergency Commission on combatting the spread of disease. Based on the outcome of the meeting, high-ranking officials responsible for COVID-19 prevention were sacked.
Turkmenistan-based foreign and international organizations and agencies have not made direct announcements on the outbreak of COVID-19 but they are no longer receiving any visitors.
On 25 August, 2021 the Russian Consulate stopped receiving visitors referring to the spread of “seasonal respiratory disease”. Two days later another batch of “Spuntink V” vaccine was delivered from Russia to Turkmenistan.
On 26 August the Delegation of the European Union to Turkmenistan postponed the scheduled events for an unspecified period “because of the current situation”.
The WHO announced that at a 2-day training course in the capital Ashgabat health workers in Turkmenistan studied new guidelines and technologies for the systematic collection of epidemiological data relating to influenza, acute respiratory infection (ARI) and COVID-19 in the country
Unknown scope of the disaster
The training course conducted by the WHO clearly indicates that collection of data relating to COVID-19 in Turkmenistan is not organized professionally. Healthcare practitioners interviewed by correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” are unable to provide any precise data on the number of those infected and suspect that the information is not available at all.
“We fail to establish a diagnosis let alone to keep track of the statistics.These numbers are much higher than they used to be.How many people are treating themselves at home?
How many patients are receiving treatment at home and are not seeking medical assistance?I am convinced that the Ministry of Healthcare does not have any statistics on the number of infected people or what measures need to be taken for the time being”, – a doctor from the Ashgabat medical institution said.
According to healthcare practitioners, they urgently need help. Turkmenistan’s healthcare is cut off from the rest of the world and doctors have no idea how to deal with the new variant of COVID-19.
At the same time, the Turkmen authorities are sending medical equipment and medications to Afghanistan but their own citizens are negatively affected by the lack of supplies.
The post A new wave of COVID-19 hits Turkmenistan.
Turmoil in overcrowded hospitals.A review of the current situation. first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.