Coronavirus: Kazakhstan denies 'unknown pneumonia' reports but has imposed second national lockdown

On July 8, the Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan warned Chinese citizens that the country had an “unknown pneumonia” outbreak more deadly than COVID-19. The following day, the Kazakhstani health ministry acknowledged the presence of viral pneumonias of “unspecified” cause, but denied that the outbreak was new or unknown. The newly appointed health minister, Alexey Tsoy, declared that the claim published by Chinese media “does not correspond to reality”.