Kazakhstan sees sharp surge in COVID cases

A sharp surge in coronavirus cases is observed in Kazakhstan, with the COVID-19 incidence rising by almost 20 times over the past month amid the spread of the omicron variant, Healthcare Minister Ajar Giniyat said, Report informs.

Speaking at a government meeting, Giniyat said that Omicron had complicated the epidemiological situation in the country.

“The indicators characterizing the epidemiological situation in the country also confirm the spread of the omicron variant. Thus, the incidence of coronavirus infection over the past month has increased by 19.6 times, the reproductive number - by 2.1 times, the daily volume of testing for COVID-19 has increased by 3.5 times and reached 50,000 tests per day,” she said.

At the same time, the minister added that despite the increase in the incidence, mortality from coronavirus over the past month has decreased by 2.5 times.

“Over the past month, the number of COVID patients receiving treatment in hospitals has doubled, at the outpatient level - five times,” she said.

According to the Ministry of Health, 9,798 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Kazakhstan over the past day, six people died. The total number of recorded cases of coronavirus in the country has reached 1,071,130.