The Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan on Friday alerted it’s citizens about the outbreak of an unknown, deadly type of pneumonia with a high mortality rate.
A media report from the Central Asian nation confirmed that people in some regions of the country were getting infected with the pneumonia, which is said to have a much higher mortality rate than COVID-19.
“According to Kazakh media reports, since mid-June, the Atyrau Region, the Aktobe Region, and the city of Shymkent have faced an increased number of patients with pneumonia. Currently, the number of infected people in these regions stands at some 500 people, over 30 people are in critical condition”, the embassy said in a statement.
While the Chinese embassy described the illness as an “unknown pneumonia”, Kazakhstani officials and media have only said it is pneumonia. But are yet to ascertain what virus is causing the flu.
“The Kazakh Ministry of Health and other agencies are currently studying this virus, which causes pneumonia. The situation is still unclear”, the statement said.
Kazakhstan has witnessed about 1772 pneumonia deaths in the first part of the year, 628 of which happened in June, including some Chinese nationals.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy has continued to remind it’s citizens to be aware of the situation and step up prevention to lower the infection risks.
