Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Armenian Health Authorities Press For Renewed Lockdown
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (L) speaks at a news brieing outside
his official residence, Yerevan, June 2, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian revealed on Tuesday that health authorities are
urging him to re-impose a nationwide lockdown to stop the accelerating spread of
coronavirus in Armenia.
Pashinian did not rule out such a measure but voiced serious misgivings about
it, saying that it could cost the Armenian economy dearly.
“I want to note that the healthcare system keeps telling us that we should
impose lockdown restrictions as soon as possible, and the office of the
commandant [enforcing the state of emergency in Armenia] discusses that issue on
an almost daily basis,” he told a news briefing held outside his official
residence.
“But the problem, my dear compatriots, is that we have already gone through a
period of restrictions and seen that it brings about very serious, almost
disastrous socioeconomic consequences,” he said. “We made 100 billion drams
($206 million) available for social and economic assistance [to citizens and
businesses] during that period.”
“But one has to understand that the state’s resources are not unlimited and in
case of another lockdown we could end up facing the kind of economic crisis
which we would not be able to overcome for many years,” added Pashinian.
The Armenian government issued stay-at-home orders and shut down most
nonessential businesses in late March shortly after reporting the first major
outbreaks of the deadly virus in the country. But it began easing those
restrictions already in mid-April. They were practically lifted by the beginning
of May.
Critics say that the authorities never properly enforced the lockdown and ended
it too soon. They increasingly cite the example of neighboring Georgia whose
government only recently began easing serious curbs on people’s freedom of
movements and reopening the domestic economy.
The Georgian authorities have so far reported less than 800 coronavirus cases
and only 12 deaths caused by them, compared with over 10,000 cases and at least
158 fatalities registered in Armenia.
As many as 19 Armenians infected with COVID-19 died on Monday alone, up from the
previous daily high of 15 deaths reported on May 28. The Armenian Ministry of
Health also recorded 517 single-day COVID-19 infections. By contrast, only two
people in Georgia tested positive for the virus in the past day.
Pashinian again insisted that Armenians’ failure to practice social distancing
and wear face masks is the main reason for the continuing rapid spread of the
virus. He said that earlier on Tuesday he ordered government and law-enforcement
bodies to enforce these rules “in the toughest and crudest way.”
The prime minister warned that the authorities may eventually have to re-impose
the lockdown and “subject the country to new social and economic shocks” if many
people continue to flout the rules.
Pashinian has repeatedly said before that the success of his administration’s
fight against the virus primarily hinges on citizens’ behavior and “individual
responsibility.” Critics have responded by accusing him of trying to dodge
responsibility for the authorities’ failure to contain the epidemic.
Armenian Troops To Join Moscow Military Parade
• Heghine Buniatian
Russia -- Armenian soldiers march in a WW2 military parade in Moscow's Red
Square, May 9, 2015.
Armenian soldiers will march in the upcoming Russian military parade in Moscow
that will mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in
World War Two, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan said on Tuesday.
The Red Square parade, originally scheduled for May 9, was postponed by the
Kremlin in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. President Vladimir Putin
announced last week that it will be held on June 24 despite the continuing
spread of coronavirus in Russia.
Putin told Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu to ensure “the strictest
security standards while preparing for the parade.” “The risks for all
participants must be kept to a minimum and better excluded,” he said.
Like the armed forces of other ex-Soviet states, the Armenian military has been
invited to participate in the annual display of Russia’s military might.
Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service
that 75 Armenian army soldiers will join thousands of Russian troops in marching
through Red Square. She said they will carry not only an Armenian national flag
but also the banner of a Red Army division that mostly consisted of Armenians
and reached Berlin in May 1945.
Putin invited Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to attend the parade when they
spoke by phone on Monday. Pashinian accepted the invitation, saying that he
hopes to recover from coronavirus by June 24.
COVID-19 Outbreak In Armenian Textile Giant
• Karine Simonian
Armenia -- Gloria factory owner Bagrat Darbinian (L) and his employees argue
with a police officer trying to prevent its renewed operations, Vanadzor, April
21, 2020.
The government on Tuesday ordered Armenia’s largest textile factory to close for
three days after at least three of its 2,600 employees tested positive for
coronavirus.
Officials in the northern city of Vanadzor, which is home to the Gloria company
factory, said about two dozen other workers have been placed in quarantine and
may also undergo coronavirus tests. Some of them have a fever.
According to the Vanadzor-based governor of the surrounding Lori province,
Andrei Ghukasian, two of the infected workers were hospitalized. One of them, a
pregnant woman, was taken to a hospital in Yerevan.
“They are alright,” Ghukasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “They just had a
slight fever. That’s how [their infection] was detected by one of our
policlinics. They will now be under doctors’ surveillance.”
Gloria’s owner, Bagrat Darbinian, insisted that he has followed all
anti-epidemic rules that have been set by the Armenian government for
manufacturers. He said the factory’s premises have been disinfected twice a day
and all workers have been provided with hand sanitizers, medical masks and
rubber gloves.
“It’s only natural that people get infected just like they do all over the
country and around the world,” Darbinian declared at the same time.
The businessman claimed that despite the coronavirus outbreak all of his mostly
female employees want to keep working. “If they don’t want to work or if the
government decides that they must not work we will not work,” he said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced later in the day that a government body
enforcing the coronavirus-related state of emergency in Armenia has ordered a
three-day shutdown of the Vanadzor factory. He said Gloria will have to suspend
production operations on Wednesday morning.
It was not clear if the Gloria management will also have to take additional
safety measures.
Armenia - Workers at a new textile factory in Gyumri, December 7, 2018.
Gloria and other textile plants were allowed to resume their work in late April
following a month-long stoppage ordered by the government as part of a
nationwide lockdown. Pashinian said on April 12 that the textile industry should
be able to restart its activities despite being “the main driving force” of
coronavirus infections in the country
Following Pashinian’s statement, a government task force set concrete social
distancing rules and other precautions for the export-oriented industry.
Darbinian claimed that those requirements are too strict when Gloria’s employees
defied the government ban and returned to their workplaces on April 21.
The angry workers said they want the factory to immediately resume its work
because they cannot support themselves and their families after the month-long
lockdown. Darbinian told them that they should not be afraid of contracting
COVID-19. “If we get infected, we’ll recover,” the Gloria owner said at the time.
Authorities shut down the plant again the following day. Still, they agreed to
soften the rules.
The daily number of coronavirus cases registered by the health authorities has
increased dramatically since then.
“The main reason for the rise in the number of cases is industrial enterprises,”
Pashinian said on May 24. The prime minister accused businesses of failing to
follow social distancing and hygiene rules. He said the government will now
enforce tougher penalties for such violations.
The authorities have recorded just over 10,000 coronavirus cases across Armenia
to date. Less than 100 of them have been registered in Lori, according to the
provincial administration.
Armenia’s Daily Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Hit Fresh Records
Armenia - Customers line up outside a commercial bank branch in Yerevan, June 1,
2020.
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths registered in Armenia has reached
another record high, health authorities said on Tuesday.
The Armenian Ministry of Health said that 19 more people died from coronavirus
in the past day, up from the previous daily high of 15 deaths reported last
Thursday. The official death toll from the epidemic thus rose to 158.
The figure does not include the deaths of 56 other people who were also infected
with the virus. The ministry says that they were primarily caused by other,
pre-existing diseases. One of these fatalities was registered on Monday.
The ministry also reported that the total number of coronavirus cases in the
country of about 3 million rose by 517 to just over 10,000. It said that a total
of about 1,250 COVID-19 tests were carried out on Monday.
The number of COVID-19 infections and resulting deaths in Armenia has grown
steadily since the government began easing in mid-April a nationwide lockdown
imposed by it in late March. All sectors of the Armenian economy were allowed to
resume their work by May 10.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, who coordinates government measures taken
against the epidemic, indicated on Monday that the authorities still do not
intend to again issue stay-at-home orders, ban public transport and shut down
most businesses. He said that a renewed lockdown would be an “extreme method” of
dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
The spread of the virus in the country is still “controllable,” Avinian claimed
at a joint news briefing with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. It was held just
hours after Pashinian announced that he and all members of his family have
tested positive for COVID-19.
Commenting on the growing number of new cases and fatalities, Pashinian
complained that many Armenians continue to ignore safety rules set by the health
authorities. He again urged them to wear face masks, frequently wash hands and
observe social distancing.
Pashinian ordered law-enforcement and sanitary authorities to toughen the
enforcement of those rules when during a video conference with senior government
officials held on Tuesday.
The crisis is putting a growing strain on Armenia’s underfunded healthcare
system and, in particular, intensive care units of hospitals treating COVID-19
patients. As of last week, hose units had only about 200 hospital beds and the
vast majority of them were occupied.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian, who also spoke at Monday’s news briefing,
reiterated that the authorities will set up dozens of more such beds in various
hospitals in the coming days and weeks. He said about 500 of the infected
persons are currently in a serious or critical condition.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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