Kazakhstan to cut intl flights from Oct 26

NUR-SULTAN - Kazakhstan will cut the number of international flights from Monday next week to reduce imported COVID-19 cases, the press service of Kazakh prime minister said in a statement late Monday.

Besides inbound passengers by air and land borders, international transport drivers are required to provide a PCR certificate with a negative result, which is valid in three days, the statement said.

The statement did not clarify which flights will be reduced, but the country's chief sanitary doctor, Yerlan Kiyasov, said last week that Kazakhstan plans to cut flights with Ukraine, Germany, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates in the near future.

The Kazakh interdepartmental commission also announced adjustments of the COVID-19 restriction measures. Shopping and entertainment centers as well as indoor markets in regions with a stable epidemiological situation will resume work on Saturdays until 5 pm (0900 GMT).

Cinemas are allowed to resume operation from Monday next week, with occupancy rate of no more than 30 percent. Audience should observe social distancing and wear face masks.

According to the statement, the ban on preschool institutions, billiard clubs, banquet halls and nightclubs will remain.

The PCR test fee will be cut by 20 percent to 9,000 tenge, or $21, the statement added.

As of Tuesday, Kazakhstan has registered 109,623 confirmed cases, with 105,145 recoveries and 1,768 deaths.