Kazakhstan rejects China's claims of 'unknown pneumonia' deadlier than COVID-19: Health Ministry

The Kazakhstan government has refuted China's claims that some unknown cases of pneumonia deadlier than coronavirus have been reported in Kazakh.

"Some Chinese media outlets are claiming that Kazakhstan has reported cases of unknown pneumonia deadlier than coronavirus. There is no truth in these claims," Alexey Tsoi, Minister of Health of Kazakhstan, said at a press briefing.

He further read, "The WHO had introduced codes for pneumonia in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), while COVID-19 is diagnosed clinically or epidemiologically, for example through the symptom of ground-glass opacity and affected lungs, and it is not laboratory confirmed."

"Kazakhstan, in this regard, like other countries, monitors and keeps a record of these types of pneumonia, which enables timely management-level decisions aimed at stabilising the incidence and prevalence of the coronavirus infection," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )