The government and the Ministry of health and medical industry of Turkmenistan are working with full responsibility to prevent the introduction of coronavirus into the country. This was stated today the head of the WHO office in Turkmenistan Paulina Karvovskaya, RIA News reported.

She noted that the authorities of Turkmenistan responded promptly to the first reports of the coronavirus pandemic and took very serious measures to protect their territory. In particular, a plan has been developed jointly with the UN to ensure preparedness and response to the case of coronavirus.

The strategic goal of this plan is to prevent the importation of infection into the country, said Paulina Karvovskaya. In the case of importation, she said, it is necessary to limit the transmission of infection from person to person, ensure early detection of patients, their isolation, laboratory diagnostics and medical care, reduce the socio-economic consequences, ensure uninterrupted supplies of essential goods to the population, etc.

The head of the WHO office also highly appreciated the work of the quarantine institutions that she visited in the cities of Turkmenabat and Turkmenbashi.

"These centers can play an important role by allowing rapid treatment and isolation of people with this disease, thus limiting further spread," Karvovskaya said.

The head of the WHO office also said that she relies on the health authorities of Turkmenistan, which did not report confirmed cases

"Until this moment, we were not notified of such cases," she said.

On March 11, 2020, the world health organization declared the outbreak of a new COVID-19 coronavirus infection a pandemic. According to official reports, there are no cases of coronavirus in Turkmenistan.