Tajikistan toughens control at border checkpoints with Afghanistan amid coronavirus fears

AKIPRESS.COM - Tajikistan toughen control at border checkpoints with Afghanistan following the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in that country. All persons entering the country through the border check points on the Tajik-Afghan border should pass medical examination, the official media report.
"The first cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Afghanistan, and therefore we have decided to toughen control at the border check points with Afghanistan," said Tajik Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population Mirhamuddin Kamolzoda.
"Our specialists are currently on the border and the situation is under control. We closely cooperate with relevant Afghan agencies to prevent spread of the coronavirus to our country," Kamolzoda said.
Kamolzoda added that to date 882 of 1,148 people have been discharged from coronavirus quarantine in Tajikistan. Those people were under quarantine since February 1.
Tajik Health Ministry has required anybody traveling from China to remain in quarantine for a period of 14 days. There are quarantine centers in all the country's regions.
No coronavirus cases were confirmed in Tajikistan so far.
CNN said on February 25 that the death toll from the novel coronavirus has risen to more than 2,700 worldwide, with the vast majority of those in mainland China. The total number of global cases reportedly stands at over 80,000.
South Korea now has more than 970 coronavirus cases nationwide, with 10 deaths. Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy, where seven people have died and there are over 270 infections, with restrictions imposed on some municipalities. Iran has reported at least 60 cases and 14 deaths.
World Health Organization (WHO) officials say it's still too early to declare the novel coronavirus a pandemic -- but now is the time to prepare.