NUR-SULTAN /ex ASTANA (Xinhua) — Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday instructed the government to extend the nationwide lockdown by two weeks from August 3, the presidential press service has announced in a statement.

The announcement was released following Tokayev’s meeting with Prime Minister Askar Mamin and Health Minister Aleksei Tsoi. Kazakhstan imposed a second nationwide lockdown from July 5 to August 2 amid soaring COVID-19 cases.

The statement said:

In order to consolidate the positive effect of the quarantine measures in July, and considering the possible complication of the epidemiological situation in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the State Commission to extend the quarantine measures for two weeks, and then the restrictions will be eased gradually.

During a government session yesterday, Tsoi proposed easing quarantine measures in a phased manner from August 3. The minister said that the epidemiological situation in Kazakhstan has stabilized and the burden on the health care system has been reduced, citing data that the reproductive rate (N0) of COVID-19 has dropped to 0.99.

As of Wednesday, Kazakhstan has reported 86,192 confirmed cases, with 56,638 recoveries and 793 deaths.