All workers of the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company, which is located in the Zarnisor (formerly Altyn-Topkan) settlement, will be tested for a new coronavirus, COVID-19.
A reliable source says the workers will be tested for COVID-19 for the purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the area.
In all, some 3,000 people work for the company, and more than 1,000 of them are nationals of China, the source added.
Meanwhile, another source says the testing of the workers for COVID-19 have begun after one of the company employees – Chinese national – died.
“Some of the workers are sick and their diagnosis is still unknown,” the source told Asia-Plus in an interview.
It has not yet been able to officially confirm this information.
Recall, some 60 Chinese workers of the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company held a rally on May 20. They reportedly demanded the payment of overdue salaries.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on May 22 that Tajik police have used firearms to break up a rare protest by Chinese workers employed by the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company. The mining company's administration says police were called after the protesting Chinese workers refused to stop the rally.
A spokesman for the Sughd regional police department told RFE/RL that local police shot live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters after it boiled over. No gunshot wounds or injuries were reported.
Tohirjon Azizzoda, the head of the Mastchoh district where the company's mines are located, told RFE/RL that the Chinese workers had been demanding the payment of overdue salaries.
He added, however, that the workers from China had rallied earlier last month, saying that their work terms had been fulfilled and they wanted to return home.
"The regional government explained to them then that they were unable to enter China as Beijing had suspended all border crossings due to the coronavirus outbreak," Azizzoda said.
The Chinese workers, mostly engineers, work in terms. Workers from the previous term that left Sughd for China earlier in the year to celebrate the Chinese New Year have been unable to return for the same reason.
The Tajik-Chinese Mining Company, which was created in 2009, operates lead and zinc mines in Tajikistan.
