Turkmenistan Halts Passenger Trains Amid Virus Reports

Turkmenistan has ordered passenger trains halted from July 16 amid reports of coronavirus in the isolated Central Asian country that has yet to declare any cases

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jul, 2020 ) :Turkmenistan has ordered passenger trains halted from July 16 amid reports of 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 that local passenger train travel would be suspended for a week from July 16 to July 23, but gave no reason for the stoppage.

Turkmenistan -- a tightly-controlled, oil-rich ex-Soviet state -- is one of the few countries in the world yet to declare any coronavirus cases.

Its foreign ministry last month dismissed as "fake news" a US embassy health alert warning Americans over potential coronavirus cases in Turkmenistan.

On Monday, some people told an AFP journalist that they were being 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 on Monday recommended mask-wearing because of a "high concentrations of dust" and pathogens in the air.

The announcements follow the arrival of a World Health Organization delegation in Ashgabat last week for a 10-day mission examining the response to the pandemic.

The delegation is due to present the findings of the mission on Wednesday.