Kyrgyzstan cancels all upcoming cultural, sporting events because of COVID-19

Bishkek, Mar.9, 2020. /Kabar/. In Kyrgyzstan, all mass, cultural and sporting events, planned to be held in the near future, would be cancelled as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Altynai Omurbekova said in Birinchi Radio broadcast. She added mass, sporting and cultural events were banned a week ago. “Nooruz celebration is also banned,” the deputy PM said. Omurbekova noted the Republican Headquarters is calling on the management of shopping malls, business centres, supermarkets and entertainment establishments to install sanitation and air purifiers and to provide sufficient disinfectants to visitors to protect their health. “Person who enters the store must disinfect his hands because he will touch the products. As they say, God helps those who helps themselves. We also call to limit tois (feast or celebration by the Turkic peoples). In addition, agencies where there is constant flow of people, such as the Central Election Commission and the Social Fund, will be provided with disinfectants," Deputy PM Omurbekova concluded. Nooruz (or Novruz) is celebrated on Mar. 21, the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of the new year. Originally it was a pagan holiday of the Zoroastrians, who considered the day of the vernal equinox sacred. Now it is celebrated in such countries as Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China (Xinjiang and other regions), Mongolia, Pakistan, the Russian Federation (Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Tatarstan and other regions), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, etc., as well as in other countries.