TASHKENT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has voiced hope for mobilizing military doctors and specialists of the country's military medical institutions to treat patients with coronavirus, the presidential press service said Tuesday.
President Mirziyoyev was examining the results of the work to counter the coronavirus pandemic in Tashkent city and efforts to increase the coverage of the population with high-quality and timely medical care, the press service added.
Uzbekistan has earlier extended a second lockdown till Aug. 15 amid a surge of daily confirmed coronavirus infections and has started turning large closed sports arenas into temporary hospitals.
However, the government said last week that the newly-built hospitals for COVID-19 patients urgently need additional medical personnel. It has announced nationwide hiring of retired doctors and nurses, as well as graduates of medical universities and colleges to help fight the pandemic.
So far, Uzbekistan has registered 21,506 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 122 deaths and 11,674 recoveries. Enditem
