Coronavirus continues march across Eurasia

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan

Coronavirus cases and fatalities continued to rise across Eurasia on Tuesday.

In Ukraine, 260 new cases pushed the overall count to 18,876, including 548 deaths and 5,632 recoveries.

However, the country is set to start easing lockdown measures, with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announcing that public transportation will resume from May 22.

In Moldova, two more people died of COVID-19, raising the death toll to 219. A total of 6,138 cases have been reported in the country to date, including 2,508 recoveries, according to health officials.

Eight more people also tested positive in Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia, bringing the total to 248, including 12 deaths.

In Kazakhstan, 311 new cases pushed the total to 6,751, including 35 fatalities and 3,469 recoveries.

In Uzbekistan, 23 more cases raised the overall count to 2,802, including 2,314 recoveries and 13 fatalities.

A total of 474,000 tests have been conducted in the country so far, according to a top health official.

In Armenia, 218 new cases brought the total to 5,041, including 2,788 recoveries and 64 deaths, the Health Ministry said.

In Kyrgyzstan, 27 new cases raised the total to 1,243, including 898 recoveries and 14 deaths.

In Georgia, one new COVID-19 case brought the total to 705, including 12 deaths and 456 recoveries.

More than 4.82 million cases have been reported in 188 countries and regions since the virus emerged in China last December.

The US, Russia, Brazil, and several European countries are currently the hardest-hit in the world.

The pandemic has claimed nearly 320,000 lives worldwide, while recoveries are close to 1.8 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Havva Kara Aydin in Ankara