Kyrgyzstan gets ready to face second virus wave

Kyrgyzstan is bracing itself for a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak after the increase in infections in the summer led to a near collapse of the country's healthcare system.

On Wednesday, Kyrgyz health officials registered 335 new cases of coronavirus and community-acquired pneumonia, which also contributes to the virus count.

But it is nowhere near the country's record high – the largest numbers were reported in the summer when Kyrgyzstan, a nation of 6.3 million, reported more than 1,000 cases and several dozen deaths daily.

By late July, Kyrgyzstan had reported over 33,000 cases and more than 1,300 deaths, and the teetering health care system, with only 2,036 hospital beds for virus patients, started to collapse.

Scores of volunteers played a major role in filling the gaps back then, and continue to play a role as the country anticipates an upcoming resurgence.

Volunteers from the SOS movement, which was originally founded to help elderly people back in 2013, but has refocused on helping tackle the coronavirus outbreak, have renovated a medical facility in four days and opened it in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, expecting an influx of coronavirus patients who wouldn't get a bed in state-run clinics.

Local authorities allocated a building to the facility, which was called Breath, or "Dem" in Kyrgyz, and assigned 60 doctors and other medical workers to work in it.

However, they rely on volunteers to manage the centre and coordinate patients flows.

When the virus broke out in Kyrgyzstan in March, authorities imposed a tight lockdown with curfews and a heavy police presence.

With few resources to protect those who lost income while businesses were closed, officials started to ease lockdown restrictions in early May, when the country reported a little over 1000 coronavirus cases and a dozen deaths, citing economic fallout and public frustration over the lockdown.

Some said the government feared unrest in the country, which has a history of political uprisings and ethnic violence.

As offices, markets and malls reopened and public transportation resumed, people rushed to get back to normal life, including traditionally large weddings and funerals that typically draw hundreds of people.

Medical expert Bermet Baryktabasova told the Associated Press that the restrictions effectively contributed to the growing outbreak.

Within weeks, several hundred new virus cases were being reported daily, instead of only dozens.

Patients complained it was impossible to find available beds in hospitals.

Waits for ambulances lasted for hours, if not days, according to Bishkek resident Gulmira Kazakova, who had the coronavirus in July.

In October, Kyrgyzstan was swept by a wave of mass protests followed a parliamentary election that the opposition said was manipulated.

The rallies rocked Bishkek for days, with large groups of people gathering in city squares.

After more than a week of unrest, then-president Sooronbay Jeenbekov stepped down, and politician Sadyr Japarov assumed office as acting president – only to quit himself a month later in order to be allowed to run in a snap election scheduled for January.

The deputy chief doctor of the Bishkek state coronavirus hospital, Upol Nuraliyeva, said they saw the rise in new infections after protesters flooded Bishkek's streets in October.

Although Kyrgyzstan is just about to take the brunt of the second wave, experts believe it is better prepared than before, mainly because volunteers are now involved in the fight.