Chief sanitary officer says epidemiological situation in Almaty city 'tense'
17:57, 16 July 2021
ALMATY. KAZINFORM – Epidemiological situation in Almaty city remains complicated, chief state sanitary officer of the city Zhandarbek Bekshin said Friday, Kazinform correspondent reports.
While speaking at the press briefing, Mr. Bekshin admitted that the epidemiological situation in the city is tense. The number of daily infections is growing. On Wednesday Almaty added 850 new COVID-19 cases, compared to 885 on Friday. The city has reported over 63,000 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the year. Of 63,000, 7,520 new infections were registered in the first 15 days of July alone.
According to Bekshin, the spike was caused by the Delta COVID-19 variant which had gripped not only Almaty city, but the entire country.
He also admitted that residents of the city don’t properly follow the coronavirus restrictions in place. They don’t wear face masks, don’t keep social distancing and don’t avoid mass gatherings.