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After Late Start, Central Asia Takes On COVID-19

Navbahor Imamova

   WASHINGTON - In February, when COVID-19 began to explode beyond Wuhan
   and into China's eastern and southern neighbors, the countries across
   China's western frontier curiously claimed to be unaffected. South
   Korea, Japan, and Singapore struggled to manage and mitigate new
   infections, yet governments in Central Asia insisted that all was
   normal.
   But by mid-March, they were compelled by sheer numbers to report cases.
   Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have seen a wave of infections.
   And they have become proactive in taking measures to halt its spread.
   As of April 10, Kyrgyzstan, the region's freest society, reported 298
   infections, with 802 in Kazakhstan, and 624 in Uzbekistan. The three
   have reported only 17 deaths in total. Two countries lag: Tajikistan
   and Turkmenistan have lived up to their reputations as two of the
   world's most closed political systems by clinging to the fantastical
   claim of zero cases.
   Pandemics inevitably affect everyone, old and young, urban and rural,
   powerful and powerless. So, the region's leaders have had to speak up.
   "This is a virus that came from abroad, but we will overcome it," says
   Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Uzbek president, who has addressed his nation
   weekly since acknowledging the outbreak.

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