He unplugged a refrigerator to recharge his cell phone and lost 1,000 Sputnik V vaccines

According to health Minister, Alimkadyr Beyshenaliyev, a maintenance worker could have been responsible for the error as he searched for an outlet to charge his cell phone. “If the fault lies with one of the employees, the cleaning lady or another person, the clinic will have to answer financially”, he pointed out.

In April, the minister appeared on television to promote the root of a plant – known to be highly toxic to humans – as a supposed miracle cure for the coronavirus, amid a new wave of infections.

He even took a few sips of the so-called remedy, which contains extracts from aconite root, a mountain plant that contains toxins that are deadly to humans but is used in traditional medicine.

Kyrgyzstan is experiencing a third wave of Covid-19 and officially recorded more than 100,000 cases and 1,735 deaths on Friday, for a population of 6.5 million people.

Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic country in Central Asia, and it has even been called the “Asian Switzerland“. However, in the 30 years since its independence, 3 of its 5 former presidents ended up in jail or under investigation.

The country has experienced two revolutions and still decides between a parliamentary or presidential system. Traditions, the north-south divide and the past clouded by legend mark the course of the country, and democracy is not necessarily its destiny.