Category: 2020

 16:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan commented on the spread of coronavirus in Iran.

“Spread of coronavirus in neighboring friendly Iran is concerning. Armenia took preventive measures to stop the spread of virus and works very closely with our good neighbor Iran to jointly overcome this hazard”, the FM said on Twitter.

Number of people infected with novel coronavirus in Iran has risen to 64, number of those killed is 12.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:33,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan has addressed invitations for observer missions of the upcoming April 5 constitutional referendum to the Chairs of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

Voters are expected to decide in the April 5 referendum whether or not the incumbent Chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan, as well as most other justices appointed under the previous constitution, should remain in office.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:18,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Travelers arriving from countries where the novel coronavirus (Covid 2019) outbreak is spreading , including from Italy, will be under monitoring by medics for the lengths of the disease’s incubation period. The travelers will not be quarantined but will instead be monitored by district clinics per residence addresses, National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Artavazd Vanyan told a news conference.

“Full monitoring will be implemented, like we did for people arriving from China,” he said.

So far, there haven’t been any coronavirus cases in Armenia.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:21,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan will depart for Geneva on February 24 to take part in the High-Level meeting at the 43^rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the MFA told Armenpress.

The Armenian FM will also deliver remarks at the meeting.

During the visit he is scheduled to have meetings with some of his foreign counterparts.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. 83 suspected cases of the novel coronavirus have all tested negative in Armenia since January 24, National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Artavazd Vanyan told a news conference.

“Since January 24 we monitored more than 2000 people and we had 83 hospitalizations. That is, people who arrived from China and had even the slightest symptoms, for example 37 degree fever, they were immediately hospitalized and examined, and everyone was tested. All tests came back negative,” Vanyan said.

Vanyan said there are people under monitoring now. He did not elaborate.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:31,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Two people, one of them an Iranian national, have been hospitalized in Azerbaijan on suspicions of having the novel coronavirus, RIA Novosti reported citing Azerbaijani healthcare authorities.

According to the report the hospitalized persons – one Azerbaijani and one Iranian – returned to Azerbaijan from an Iranian region where the there is no covid-2019 outbreak. They haven’t had any direct contact with anyone. Medics detected slight fever while the two were entering the country.

The patients remain under monitoring in a Baku hospital.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 18:13,

YEREVAN, 24 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 24 February, USD exchange rate is up by 0.07 drams to 478.42 drams. EUR exchange rate is up by 0.50 drams to 517.55 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 7.43 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 0.72 drams to 617.07 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price is up by 377.42 drams to 25276.52 drams. Silver price is up by 2.73 drams to 285.48 drams. Platinum price is down by 151.60 drams to 15012.4 drams.

 18:16,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia NIkol Pashinyan received Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák on February 24.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, welcoming Miroslav Lajčák’s visit to Armenia, PM Pashinyan highlighted the opening of an embassy in Yerevan on February 24, which will give new impetus to bilateral relations. Nikol Pashinyan noted that Armenia is interested in the development of cooperation with Slovakia in both bilateral format and in the sidelines of the European Union. According to the PM, the EU is Armenia’s main partner in the sphere of democratic reforms and Armenia highlights the assistance of both EU structures and EU member states to theat process. The PM thanked Slovakia for its balanced position on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.

PM Pashinyan conveyed warm greetings to Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini.

Miroslav Lajčák noted that Armenia is an important partner for Slovakia, and the opening of an embassy in Armenia creates new opportunities for the activation of bilateral relations. The Foreign Minister of Slovakia saluted Armenia’s ambitious democratic reform agenda, noting that Slovakia is ready to share its experience in reform implementation. He noted that Slovakia, as an EU member state, is ready to support Armenia in the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU, as well as in the visa liberalization process.

Referring to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Miroslav Lajčák emphasized that his country fully supports the peace process under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 18:45,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appointed today Armenia’s Ambassador to Vietnam Vahram Kazhoyan to concurrently serve as Ambassador to Laos.

The appointment was formalized by President Armen Sarkissian’s decree.

Kazhoyan is also concurrently serving as Armenia's Ambassador to Cambodia. 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 18:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Healthcare has assessed the capacity of medical organizations and hospitals to evaluate the level of preparedness for a possible outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Armenia and all medical facilities have been given instructions, National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Artavazd Vanyan said at a news conference.

“Methodologic guidelines provided by the World Health Organization have been developed, translated, localized and given to all hospitals. We have also assessed the capacities of the medical organizations, as to what extent they are ready, what capabilities they have. The capacities are entirely assessed, and the ministry has issued an instruction for filling in the respective gaps. We are implementing this process,” Vanyan said.

He said they have conducted the assessment for a worst-case scenario, i.e. outbreak with large numbers of confirmed cases. The number of protective suits and masks and other items have been evaluated. “Wherever we see that the number is not enough we add capacity. It’s not that we have a problem. If we were to have cases, we are ready for it. I am speaking about an outbreak, a pandemic, we are considering the preparedness for the development of the most dangerous cases,” he said.

He said authorities are currently looking into the lack of protective masks in pharmacies. Vanyan said the Ministry of Healthcare has acquired around 160,000 masks and is now seeking to acquire more for healthcare workers.

So far, there haven’t been any novel coronavirus cases in Armenia.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan