COVID-19 Update (June 9)

Dr. Arsen Manukyan:

Arsen Manukyan is an ICU doctor who came to Armenia from Germany to work at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center and is working with patients in extremely critical condition.

“I work in a clinic in Bavaria as head anaesthesiologist and intensive therapy doctor. In March and April, the ICU units in Germany were filled with COVID patients. In May, the virus retreated slightly and I believe it was due to the heightened sense of personal responsibility of the population.

“At the end of May, I read the Armenian Health Minister’s announcement that Armenia is in need of specialists. My wife agreed to stay home alone with our 10-month-old son for an undetermined amount of time. After reaching an agreement with my employer, I bought a one way ticket to Yerevan and, on the day of my arrival, I joined the staff at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Hospital. The work carried out at the ICU unit of the hospital is hard to describe. The whole team is fighting death day and night, putting their own physical and psychological health on the line. Prevention is the only holistic solution to the pandemic.

“My son Levon will turn one on July 18 and I hope the virus will be retreating by then so I will be able to return to my family and be there for my son’s first birthday.”

Minister of Emergency Situations (MES) Feliks Tsolakyan:

– For the past several months, Armenia’s population has been fighting against COVID-19.

– Every person, by following the anti-epidemic regulations, can save a life and join our first responders, who have been working around the clock.

– MES has received 2264 calls regarding COVID-19 to the 911 emergency number

– Of those calls, 294 citizens were given relevant information; 973 received medical advice regarding COVID-19; 978 received psychological support.

– With regard to medical consultations, and the psychological impact of the lockdown, citizens can continue to receive psychological assistance and support.

– Taking into consideration how overloaded the MES 103 number and the Ministry of Health’s hotline was, on my orders, the number of doctors fielding calls and working 24/7 with MES was doubled.

– Citizens can call 911 for any issue around-the-clock, and MES doctors will provide medical consultations free of charge.

– MES is working closely with all state bodies and ministries; 34 MES doctors are working with the hotline set up by the Special Commission of the State of Emergency and, because of the demand, this number will quadruple in two days; 119 MES First Responders are working with the Police and the Ministry of Health making home visits to all those who are in quarantine; 20 First Responder Units are working throughout the country to raise awareness and inform the population of the safety guidelines; with the assistance of MES, almost 1000 people have been escorted to and from quarantine sites; over 47,000 sites (approximately 1000/day) have been disinfected with the assistance of 300 MES staff;

– As a state body, I want to stress that we continue to take all necessary precautions – daily disinfection of our buildings, taking the temperatures of staff three times a day, and all of this is taking place in parallel with the regular operations of MES staff.

– In the first five months of this year, we have had approximately 740,000 calls to our emergency number and taking into consideration that we are heading into a season which sees many fires, we expect the number of calls to increase.

– Thirty-five MES staff members have been infected with COVID-19 by their family members; 20 of them have recovered and already returned to their jobs; the remaining 15 continue to receive treatment; 82 staff are in quarantine.

– If any of MES staff are infected, there is automatic contact tracing done and all those who have come into contact have been quarantined; “This is why I stressed that our staff have been infected by their family members. We have not allowed the infection to spread within our ranks.”

– Tsolakyan urged the population to comply with the safety guidelines and said that if the citizens do not stand by the government, then the government will not be in a position to extend assistance.

Questions: 

A1 Plus news agency, Hermine Gharibyan: A month ago, when the number of confirmed cases was at 3,538, it was decided to extend the State of Emergency by 30 days. Now we have surpassed the 10,000 threshold. Does this mean the government plans to extend the SOE again, especially since it would be hard to impose wearing masks once SOE is lifted?

Nikol Pashinyan: We do not want to impose masks on people. We want to raise awareness and collaborate with the citizens in the fight against the virus. I think that, yes, the SOE will likely be extended.

Sputnik Armenia, Nane Martirosyan: During the past few days, several infected patients raised complaints about the quality of the services provided in polyclinics. Healthcare workers working in those polyclinics also raised concerns about being overloaded and not receiving bonuses. How would you evaluate the work of the polyclinics? Don’t you think that they should be under the supervision of the Ministry of Health rather than the Yerevan Municipality?

Nikol Pashinyan: Increasing the efficiency of the primary healthcare centers has been one of the major concerns in the healthcare sector since Armenia’s independence. It’s important to use the COVID-19 situation as an opportunity to invest in polyclinics and have a more diversified healthcare system. Although we receive complaints regarding the work of polyclinics, I hope that their efficiency will start to improve as we move forward.