70 of 776 Tajik nationals recently repatriated from Kazakhstan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  They have been taken to the Sughd regional hospital in Khujand.

An official source with the Sughd health directorate says 92 COVID-19 patients, including those 70 citizens mostly residents of the Khatlon province, are currently undergoing medical treatment at the Sughd regional hospital.  The remaining 22 COVID-19 patients are residents of the Sughd province, including to residents of city of Buston (formerly Chkalovsk) who are in an intensive care unit, the source said.  

Recall, international organizations and the government of Tajikistan on July 3 organized transportation to repatriate hundreds of Tajik citizens stranded in Kazakhstan because of restrictions implemented to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) once again has supported the voluntary return home of 776 Tajik nationals stranded  at the Kazak-Uzbek border for eleven days due to restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19.

IOM, UNICEF and the Government of Tajikistan collaboratively contributed to the return home of Tajik labor migrants stranded at the Zhibek Zholi border crossing point (BCP) on the Kazakh-Uzbek border.

According to IOM, the group of 776 Tajik nationals, including more than 40 children, was returned home by buses through Uzbekistan to the Tajik northern province of Sughd on July 3.