The decision on July 17, 2020 by the governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to start counting certain cases of pneumonia as COVID-19 in official data provides greater transparency and accountability and should improve their ability to protect people’s health. The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
«It’s important that, in line with World Health Organization guidelines, the authorities in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have decided to include pneumonia cases in official Covid-19 data,» said Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. «Collecting accurate information about COVID-19 infections is vital to stemming the spread of the disease.»
As human rights defenders note, all countries should transparently report suspected, probable, and confirmed cases, and deaths, from COVID-19. They should also thoroughly investigate cases of pneumonia to determine the possibility of infection with the novel coronavirus.
The change in policy is a positive step, as authorities have downplayed the spread of Covid-19, including by relying on misleading data, since March, when the first cases of COVID-19 were registered in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Today Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are among the countries with the fastest growing number of confirmed Covid-19 infections. The Kyrgyz and Kazakh governments should urgently allocate resources to set up surge triage, screening areas, treatment, and critical care units at health facilities across the country to respond to the growing number of COVID-19 infections, including for people at greatest risk.
«There is a very real and devastating crisis in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with a growing number of people infected with and dying of COVID-19,» Rittmann said. «The authorities should take urgent steps to protect those at highest risk and ensure that everyone can get the care they need.»
