NUR-SULTAN / ex ASTANA (Interfax-Kazakhstan) — A total of 66 people from China had been admitted and placed in isolated wards in Kazakhstan-based hospitals since January 6 this year with fever and complaints of acute respiratory viral infection.

Of them 41 people remained hospitalized as at January 31 with signs of viral infection, with 25 people discharged, the country’s lead infectious disease specialist Dinagul Baesheva said at a briefing in Nur-Sultan (ex Astana) on Friday.

According to Healthcare Minister Yelzhan Birtanov, over 10,000 Kazakh citizens are currently in China. Birtanov said they will be repatriated by flights arranged for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the police of Almaty region have detained a doctor who disseminated information on alleged situations of the Wuhan coronavirus in Almaty, the Kazakh Interior Ministry said on its portal. The press service for the city department for quality and safety control of goods and services said that no cases of coronavirus have been registered in Almaty,