Two new officially confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in Tajikistan yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) says.

A total number of the officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Tajikistan has reached 17,090 since April 30, 2020, when its index cases were confirmed in the country.  

The previous two officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country on November 9.  Before that, two officially recognized cases of COVID-19 were reported in Tajikistan on October 15. 

The number of the officially confirmed coronavirus-linked deaths in Tajikistan has remained the same – 124. 

A MoHSPP says a total number of those who have been cured in Tajikistan since April 30, 2020 has reached 16,962.  

The COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).  The virus was confirmed to have spread to Tajikistan when its index cases, in Dushanbe and Khujand, were confirmed on 30 April 2020.

By January 13, 2021, government reported that all cases had either recovered or died, leaving the country free of COVID-19 for the first time since April 2020.  Tajikistan reported to be the first country in Central Asia to eradicate COVID-19, and would be the only country with over 10,000 total cases to have zero active cases.  After five months and twelve days, Tajikistan recorded 63 news COVID-19 cases.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is reportedly affecting 222 countries and territories.  According to COVID-19 data provided by Worldometer, coronavirus cases around the globe have been reported at 252,138,140 since China reported its first cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019.  Of them, 228,193,311 have recovered and 5,088,157 have died.

Meanwhile, a joint statement released by the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on Scaling COVID-19 Tools on November 10 says the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization on November 9 held 2nd High-Level Consultations with the CEOs of leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing companies.  At the meeting, all participants agreed on the urgency of delivering more vaccine doses to low-income countries, where less than 2.5% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

The objective of the meeting was to identify how to ensure more equitable distribution of vaccines and all those participating pledged to continue working together to gain greater clarity on donations, vaccine swaps and delivery schedules so that distribution of the life-saving vaccines can be more effectively targeted towards those countries most in need.

The outlook for 2022 was reportedly also discussed, focusing on diversification of manufacturing across regions, as well as strengthening collaboration to achieve the global target of vaccinating 70% of the populations of all countries by the middle of the year.