NUR-SULTAN – As countries worldwide are witnessing another spike of coronavirus cases, Kazakh healthcare officials confirmed the prevalence of the Delta variant in all of the country’s regions.
Delta variant first reached the capital. Click to see the map in full size.
The Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare conducted PCR screening of positive laboratory samples collected from coronavirus patients. As of July 1, 414 samples were screened to detect the Delta variant and the results showed the presence of Delta variant in 48.3 percent of samples in all regions and cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and Shymkent.
The final conclusion will be made after full-genomic DNA sequencing of the samples.
As of July 2, the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and Shymkent as well as Akmola, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Karaganda, and Mangistau regions are in the red zone.
Aktobe, Kostanai, Kyzylorda, and Pavlodar regions are in the yellow zone, while Almaty, East Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Turkistan, and North Kazakhstan regions are in the green zone.
The Delta variant is considered to be more contagious than previous variants, have a shorter incubation period, and be more resistant to vaccines. More younger people also become susceptible to the infection.
Officials urge the citizens to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“At the same time, to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, all preventive measures must be observed – wearing masks, social distance, hand hygiene, and airing of rooms,” said the state commission on the fight against the coronavirus infection. At their meeting on Friday,
The Delta variant has reached at least 96 countries worldwide.
At their meeting on Friday, the commission discussed the worsening epidemiological situation in the country. Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov, who chairs the commission, told the regional authorities to tighten coronavirus restrictions in regions that are in the yellow zone and accelerate vaccination in rural areas by organizing mobile teams.
As of July 2, around 3.5 million people received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 2 million people are fully immunized against the virus.
Almaty, as well as the Turkistan and the Almaty regions, are leading in terms of the number of people receiving the full course of vaccination.
