Category: 2020

CIVILNET.First Death Due To Coronavirus in Armenia

Emma Jilavian
CIVILNET.AM

20:17 

By Ani Paitjan

A 72-year-old victim of coronavirus died at the Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital on March 26.

This is the first death caused by COVID-19 in Armenia.

“The patient was infected by the virus, bilateral pneumonia, multiple organs deficiency, respiratory distress syndrome, hypertension and arrhythmia. Unfortunately, concomitant illnesses meant we could not save the patient’s life,” stated Alina Nikoghosyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Health. 

According to Nikoghosyan, the patient was in the resuscitation department since March 25 and in extremely grave condition. 

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Armenia has reached 290, as of March 26. Later the same day, three servicemen also tested positive for the virus, it is not clear yet whether the total number includes them. 36 patients have pneumonia and 18 have recovered.

On March 16, Armenia introduced a state of emergency effective till April 14. Beginning from March 23 new restrictions on the freedom of movement of residents were emplaced.
 

CIVILNET.Armenia Records First Coronavirus Death

Emil Lazarian
CIVILNET.AM

22:22 
First Coronavirus Death and 28 more cases of coronavirus confirmed. Three Armenian servicemen tested positive for coronavirus. General elections in Nagorno-Karabakh will go ahead. The World Food Program will provide Armenia with ventilators. And the government discussed the 300 Million aid package for businesses.
 

Physician, nurse and ambulance driver test positive for coronavirus in Armenia, minister says

Ophelia Vardapetian
News.am, Armenia
 13:52

Physician, nurse and ambulance driver have tested positive for coronavirus in Armenia, the country’s health minister Arsen Torosyan told reporters.

According to him, infection of health workers is sometimes inevitable, as they communicate with patients. Although they are provided with everything necessary for protection, sometimes they still become infected, he added.

All three infected health workers are isolated, and nothing threatens their health and life, the minister added.

Armenian government plans to place coronavirus patients with mild symptoms in hotels

Yeghisabet Arthur
Panorama, Armenia

The Armenian government has decided to place COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms in hotels after consultations with Commandant Tigran Avinyan and Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“Hospitals now house patients who are receiving no treatment. These are mild cases, who have tested positive for coronavirus but require no treatment, and their stay in hospitals is unjustified,” the premier said, adding they make up the majority of coronavirus patients in hospitals.

Pashinyan stressed the need to negotiate with hotels, adding it is a mutually beneficial proposal since hotels are empty now due to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, the PM did not rule out the possibility that some businessmen may oppose the deal, fearing that it may affect the competitiveness of their brands in the future.

In this respect, the PM recalled that hotels are obliged to routinely disinfect their rooms, arguing there may be cases in which people with various other diseases have lived or are living in hotel rooms.

“Nothing bad will happen after people with coronavirus live there, especially if the rooms are disinfected afterwards,” the PM said.

Arsen Torosyan said for his part they will issue relative instructions in this regard. He backed the PM’s proposal, citing the case of Israel, where 1,000 coronavirus patients are in hotels.

“I don’t think the competitiveness of any brand will suffer given the current situation in the tourism sector not only in Armenia, but also around the world,” the minister said. 

Three servicemen test positive for coronavirus: Armenia’s DM

Babken Chilingarian
Aysor, Armenia

Three servicemen tested COVID-19 positive on March 25.

“A family member of one of them had confirmed coronavirus. All the three cases are interconnected with the first cases recorded in Armenia. The servicemen were isolated which reduced the risk of further spread of the disease,” Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan stated.

He said that the three servicemen have been hospitalized, they do not have pneumonia. One of them has temperature. The whole circle of their contacts has been found and isolated.

Thirty-two servicemen underwent tests.

The military unit is far from the frontline.

Cases of coronavirus have not been recorded in Artsakh Defense Army.

SU-30 SM fighter crews start intensive training flights in Armenia’s airspace

Tatoyan Vazgen
Public Radio of Armenia


The crews of state-of-the-art SU-30 SM fighters have started intensive training and are carrying out training flights, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense Shushan Stepanyan said in a Facebook post.

Armenian pilots who have returned from training are carrying out daily flights in the airspace of the Republic of Armenia, she added.

After the training flights the jets will start inspecting the state borders round the clock.

The first batch of jets was delivered to Armenia in late December 2019. A second delivery is expected in the near future.

The Sukhoi Su-30SM is a Russian-made twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable  4+ generation fighter jet.  

It is a multi-role fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions.

Armenian PM: COVID outbreak not developing according to worst-case scenario in Armenia

Maral Takmazian
News.am, Armenia

12:55, 26.03.2020
                  

YEREVAN. – Coronavirus outbreak is not developing according to the worst-case scenario in our country, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said during government’s meeting on Thursday.

He described the situation as “one of the best in the world” if, of course, it would be possible to keep situation under control.

“In other countries, the cases are growing exponentially. We don’t have that. There is some growth, and in order to keep the situation under control, we must strictly adhere to the restrictions for a week,” PM said.

Earlier this week Pashinyan admitted  that the situation with the spread of the virus in Yerevan had gone out of control.

Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan, in turn, added that in March-April last year we had around 500 thousand passengers transported throughout Yerevan. As of Wednesday, we had 18 thousand passengers, which means the passenger flow reduced by 30 percent.  

As for the coronavirus cases, Avinyan explained that if there is slow pace, the government will not prolong 7-day restrictions and will not impose additional strict rules.   

Armenia reports 25 more cases of coronavirus

Edgar Tavakalian
Public Radio of Armenia

Armenia has reported 25 more cases of coronavirus. The total number of confirmed cases has now reached 290, the National Center of Disease Control informs.

Eighteen patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The Ministry of Health calls to:

  • Stay at home,
  • Limit your contacts,
  • Follow personal hygiene,
  • Wash your hands frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating and after getting home,
  • Reduce access to public transport as far as possible;
  • In case of contact keep at least 1 meter distance,
  • Contact your doctor if you have flu-like symptoms,
  • If you have returned from countries where the epidemic is tense, isolate yourself for 14 days,
  • Periodically measure your fever and inform the doctor about the results,
  • Do not panic and follow your doctor’s advice.

Hotels in Armenia to house asymptomatic coronavirus patients

Tambiyan Samvel
Public Radio of Armenia


The Armenian Government will negotiate with hotels to organize the isolation of patients, who have tested positive for the coronavirus, but receive no treatment.  

The Prime Minister said at a government sitting that they will agree a price with hotels. According to him, this will be a kind of support to hotels as the tourism sector is completely down.

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said the option is widely acceptable in the world. He noted that 1,000 patients in Israel have been accommodated in hotels.

The Prime Minister noted that analysis shows that the scenario of COVID-19 spread in Armenia is not the worst one, it is developing close to the best scenarios in the world.

He added, however, that to keep the situation under control we have to abide by the lockdown rules.