COVID-19 pandemic in Gagauzia

2020 coronavirus pandemic in Gagauzia
Map of Gagauzia, an autonomous unit within Moldova
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Gagauzia, Moldova
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China via Turkey or Russia
Arrival date	1 April 2020 (4 years, 8 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Confirmed cases	1,731 (as of 12 August 2020)[1]

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, in Moldova, in April 2020.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.^[2][3]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,^[4][5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.^[6][4]

Timeline

Gagauzia is an autonomous province of Moldova, a country whose first case was registered on 7 March 2020. During the first few months, dozens of suspected cases were examined, but all of them tested negative. Svetlana Duleva, head of the Health and Social Protection Department of Gagauzia, said that the fact that many Gagauz people that returned home from abroad were not isolating themselves from others for at least two weeks was concerning. She also said that there were many workers and students coming back from Transnistria, which had 7 cases at the moment. Mihail Sirkeli, a Gagauz activist, said that people were only imitating the behavior of the autonomous authorities, which kept organizing meetings with many persons while asking people to stay at home.^[7]

Gagauzia's first case was registered on the night of 1 April 2020. The infected man was a truck driver who likely became infected while traveling from Russia to Turkey. He had already contacted many of his relatives, putting them all at risk. The man was sent to Chișinău to be hospitalized. Doctors of Gagauzia complained about the aggressive attitude of many truck drivers, who usually do not respect safety measures.^[8]

An increase in cases of domestic violence was reported in Gagauzia. Campaigners said they do not have the means and resources to combat the problem due to the COVID-19 lockdown.^[9]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Moldova
• COVID-19 pandemic in Transnistria
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory

References

1. Stratan, Maxim (12 August 2020). "O secție suplimentară pentru tratarea copiilor infectați cu noul tip de coronavirus și o secție pentru terapie intensivă vor fi deschise în Găgăuzia". NewsMaker (in Romanian).
2. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
3. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
4. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
5. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
6. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
7. Răileanu, Diana (25 March 2020). "Autonomia găgăuză vs. coronavirusul. "Autoritățile înseși nu respectă starea de urgență"". Radio Europa Liberă Moldova (in Romanian).
8. "Primul infectat cu COVID-19 din UTA Gagauz-Yeri nu a respectat regimul de carantină". Moldpres (in Romanian). 2 April 2020.
9. Garciu, Piotr (9 June 2020). "Gagauzia: Nowhere to Run". Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

External links

• Official website of the Government of Gagauzia