TURKMENISTAN has ordered passenger trains halted from Thursday amid reports of the coronavirus in the isolated Central Asian country that has yet to declare any cases.

A statement on the state-run railway’s website this week said local passenger train travel will be suspended for a week from July 16 to 23, but gave no reason for the stoppage.

Turkmenistan – a tightly controlled, oil-rich former Soviet state – is one of the few nations in the world yet to declare a Covid-19 infection.

The Foreign Ministry last month dismissed as “fake news” a US embassy health alert warning Americans over potential cases in Turkmenistan.

Yesterday, some people told an AFP journalist that they were stopped by police for not wearing masks – a stark contrast to the government’s policy of discouraging the practice in recent months.

An announcement by the Health Ministry, carried by the state information agency yesterday, recommended mask-wearing because of “high concentrations of dust” and pathogens in the air.

It followed the arrival of a World Health Organisation delegation in Ashgabat last week for a 10-day mission to examine the response to the pandemic.

The delegation is due to present the findings of the mission tomorrow. – AFP, July 14, 2020.