Turkmen Foreign Ministry says Covid-19 cases possible, expresses readiness for int'l cooperation
ASHGABAT. July 8 (Interfax) - The Turkmen Foreign Ministry has allowed for the possibility of Covid-19 cases on the national territory and has expressed readiness for regional and international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic in a statement released on Wednesday.
The Foreign Ministry referred to "an open letter from 239 scientists from 32 countries to the World Health Organization director general published on July 4 in regard to the results of scientific research, which confirmed the possible spreading of the novel coronavirus via tiny aerosol drops, which persist in the air for a long time."
"Turkmenistan confirms the aforementioned scientific conclusions on the basis of the research done by Turkmenistan's medical academic community," the ministry said.
"Longstanding studies by Turkmen doctors, environmentalists, hydro-meteorologists, and specialists in other academic areas reaffirm that substances harmful to human health, including viruses, could be carried by draughts in the sensitive environment of Central Asia," it said.
"Air masses, which form in the area of the ecological disaster caused by the drying Aral Sea, are particularly dangerous and have an extremely negative effect on nature, the climate, and human health in the Aral Sea area and much farther," the ministry said.
"The Turkmen Foreign Ministry underlines the readiness of the Turkmen side to continue broad multilateral cooperation on the international and regional levels in the fight against the pandemic," it said.
"For that purpose, Turkmenistan will soon take a series of further practical steps to implement the agreements with international partners on bolstering solidarity in the fight against the novel infection," the ministry said.
A World Health Organization mission arrived in Turkmenistan in the evening of July 6 to study the coronavirus situation. The five-member delegation will be working for ten days.
Officially, there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Turkmenistan, but foreign media outlets have reported such cases, citing their own sources.
The website of the U.S. embassy in Ashgabat published a statement in June to warn U.S. citizens about health risks, and measures aimed at protecting the health and safety of embassy staff.
"While there are no official reports of positive COVID-19 cases in Turkmenistan, the U.S. Embassy has received reports of local citizens with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 undergoing COVID-19 testing and being placed in quarantine in infectious diseases hospitals for up to fourteen days," the embassy said.
"Turkmenistan has not officially acknowledged any cases of COVID-19 within its borders and may be disinclined to do so if cases were confirmed," it said.