Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- An article on the struggle of Uzbekistan against the Covid-19 pandemic, international and regional cooperation of the state in this field has been published in the Freecity.lv Latvian electronic journal, Dunyo reported.

The material notes that thanks to the effective anti-epidemic measures taken by the leadership of Uzbekistan in a timely manner, the country manages to minimize the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the whole world. This was largely facilitated by the fact that the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev timely ordered the creation of a Special Republican Commission to prepare a program of measures to prevent the importation and spread of a new type of coronavirus in the country, and thereby laid the foundation for mitigating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the republic.

Subsequently, decisions were made to suspend air, rail and road communication with other states, and to close pre-school, secondary and higher educational institutions. A progressive package of economic measures has been adopted to mitigate the impact of the crisis on relatively vulnerable sectors of the economy. An Anti-Crisis Fund under the Ministry of Finance has been created with an initial volume of 10 trillion soums (US$1 billion). Business and entrepreneurship entities were granted tax holidays, a number of other tax benefits and deferred loan payments. Social assistance was organized for the most vulnerable groups of the population.

The article emphasizes that the President of Uzbekistan contributed to the consolidation of regional and international efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the opinion of Radio Liberty columnist Bruce Panier is given on this issue, noting that "if there is one person responsible for an active attempt to coordinate efforts in Central Asia, then this is the President of Uzbekistan."

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Uzbekistan has provided humanitarian assistance, including necessary medical devices and equipment, to countries such as China, Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Hungary, and Russia.

A special place in Uzbekistan’s international efforts in countering the spread of coronavirus was taken by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the extraordinary summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states, held on April 10, 2020 in a video conference format.

It was noted that the head of Uzbekistan made a number of important initiatives at the summit to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, which were supported and reflected in the final Declaration of the summit.

In particular, the President of Uzbekistan proposed creating a permanent system of monitoring, analysis and forecasting of the epidemiological situation within the framework of the Turkic Council. In addition, it was proposed to establish joint activities of the ministries of health and leading medical institutions of Turkic-speaking countries to exchange information and experience in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of dangerous infectious diseases.

The President of Uzbekistan also initiated the establishment of the Ad Hoc Pandemic Coordination Group under the Secretariat of the Turkic Council. The head of Uzbekistan also advocated further strengthening the status and mandate of the World Health Organization, establishing partnerships of this organization with the CCTS.