Kazakhstan starts easing restrictions, but state of emergency extended until May 11

Kazakhstan will ease some coronavirus-related restrictions in the coming days despite extending its state of emergency until May 11.

The Central Asian nation of 19 million will, in particular, renew flights between its two major cities from May 1, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement on Monday.

The state of emergency declared in mid-March over the pandemic was due to end on April 30. Kazakhstan, which has confirmed 2,780 Covid-19 cases and 25 deaths, has yet to pass the peak stage of infection, Tokayev said. However, the president said he would let the state of emergency elapse on May 11 unless there is a fresh mass outbreak.

Tokayev ordered the healthcare ministry to ramp up testing volumes to 20,000-25,000 per day. Kazakhstan, which borders China and Russia, has so far carried out about 180,000 tests over a period of about 40 days, Reuters reported.