Kazakhstan is going to lockdown the eastern cities of Oskemen and Semey from July 5 for containing the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19, the governor of the Eastern Kazakhstan province mentioned on Friday.
The Central Asian nation bordering Russia and China will impose a second nationwide lockdown from the same date, but it will be softer than the first one and will allow some movement of people between provinces.
COVID-19 in Kazakhstan
However, governor Daniyal Akhmetov wrote on Instagram the province's main cities would be "closed" for an unspecified period of time, indicating tougher restrictions. The former Soviet republic also locked down several industrial towns last month after lifting a nationwide "hard" lockdown in mid-May, which led to a sevenfold jump in COVID-19 cases in just six weeks.
The deadly virus outbreak has created a major stir around the world in recent times infecting more than 10.8 million people worldwide and claimed the lives of over 520,000 people globally in more than 170 countries.
(With agency inputs)
