This Central Asian country banned the word 'coronavirus' to suppress information about the pandemic

The government authorities in Turkmenistan have banned the use of the word "coronavirus" and have excluded it from being used by media or medical bulletins while denying the presence of coronavirus in the country.

Coronavirus outbreak: Global cases cross 800000; death toll rises to 40,636

According to media reports, the government is also arresting people for wearing face masks or talking about the pandemic in public.

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Media houses are calling it a radical move by Central Asian country to suppress all information about the pandemic.

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The official brochure of Turkmenistan's Ministry of Health has dropped any mention of the coronavirus in the information section about the prevention of viral diseases.

At a time when governments around the world are working to curb the growing coronavirus pandemic, Turkmenistan's leaders have taken extraordinary steps to suppress information about the virus.

"The Turkmen authorities have lived up to their reputation by adopting this extreme method for eradicating all information about the coronavirus," Jeanne Cavelier, the head of Reporters Without Borders' Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a Tuesday statement.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has now infected 823,479 people worldwide and 40,636 people have been killed due to this pandemic. Around 174,019 people of that tally have recovered.