Turkmenistan bans use of the word 'coronavirus' ahead of World Health Organization visit

While experts around the world debate the merits of different strategies for addressing the coronavirus pandemic, Turkmenistan has its own novel solution for eliminating the virus: banning it from being mentioned. In the former Soviet republic, it has become illegal to use the word "coronavirus" in official documents or news media or to wear face masks in public, reports Radio Free Europe.

The Central Asian nation has reported zero cases of the virus, but Radio Free Europe suggests that hundreds of people previously held in quarantine zones are being moved ahead of an official visit by the World Health Organization. While health experts have questioned the reliability of infection figures from Turkmenistan, which borders hard-hit Iran, the country's foreign minister Rashid Meredov has insisted that his country so far been spared. "If there was a single confirmed coronavirus case, we would have immediately informed ... the World Health Organization in line with our obligations."

This is not the first time Turkmenistan has been criticized for its lack of transparency. The global free speech organization Reporters Without Borders has ranked Turkmenistan 178 out of 180 in its Press Freedom Index, just ahead of Eritrea and North Korea.

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Despite his country's reported lack of infections, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who is also a rapper and a dentist, has offered advice to public health experts on combating the virus with herbal remedies.