By special decree, the Government of Kazakhstan exempted all frontline doctors battling with Coronovirus from taxes and social payments for the duration of April 1 to October 1. In addition to the tax exemption on pay, the Birgemiz Charity Fund (“Together”) will also be considered exempt. This decision is yet another in an already impressive list of anti-crisis measures taken by the Kazhak government to support “the people in the white coats” and their crucial role in the fight against COVID-19.
Photo credit: Gov.kz.
Kazakhstan was one of the first to actively engage in the fight against the spread of coronavirus and has already achieved significant success. Despite being a neighbor of China and sitting right in the center of the Eurasian landmass, there are barely any infected citizens in the republic today, which indicates that the country has tamed the pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this was the result of quarantine measures, the top class epidemiological response units in the republic and by frontline doctors who contained the spread in the first few days. It is worth noting that the experience of other countries was also taken into account and used as a model. This allowed the Kazakh doctors to learn and adapt quickly, without making costly mistakes.
President Tokayev personally visited the new hospital in Nur-Sultan city, which was scrambled up two weeks amid the State of Emergency in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. The total area of the new medical facility is 7,000 square meters and the clinic has 200 beds that are equipped with up-to-date equipment to ensure the safety of medical staff and patients.
The doctors expressed their gratitude to the President for his government’s support. They also raised the issue of increasing salaries for doctors working on combating the disease.
“At the moment, we are taking stock of our budget. You should understand that the markets in Kazakhstan have collapsed. We are not receiving the revenues that we had hoped for in the budget. But despite these difficult financial conditions, we will not ignore your request,” the President said.
