People and countries have been dealing with coronavirus differently. There’s been panic, logic, acceptance – all the stages of grief plus more. Turkmenistan, a country led by an autocrat that ranks at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, has invented a novel way to deal with the problem.
According to ABC News, Turkmenistan has reportedly banned the word ‘coronavirus’ itself. Even people wearing face masks or talking about coronavirus could be arrested by the police.
The word also has apparently been removed from health information brochures distributed in schools, hospitals and workplaces
This denial of essential information highly endangers the Turkmen citizens, and is extremely worrying. The coronavirus won’t just go away if it’s not mentioned.
The Turkenistan government, led by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, is known to adopt extreme measures when controlling its people, and this is another example of the same.