COVID-19 Update (May 25)

7:15 p.m.
Between May 18 and May 24, police have registered 53 violations of the safety rules on public transportation. The passengers were asked to step out of the vehicles; the drivers and the vehicles were escorted to the police station.

5:30 p.m.
Liana Torosyan, the Head of Department of Epidemiology of Special Dangerous and Airborne Diseases at the National Center of Diseases Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health, gave a briefing about the epidemiological situation in the country. Torosyan noted that the confirmed cases of COVID-19 keep increasing and that it is important to determine the underlying cause behind that increase. According to her, the epidemiological analysis so far has shown that the increase in the number of confirmed cases can be explained by the fact that Armenia’s laboratory testing capacity has increased. She also noted that the Ministry follows the official guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) but that those rules are being modified and adapted to the local environment. Torosyan said that a wider scope of cases are being reported and reflected in the numbers provided by the Government, which also explains the increase in the number of cases.

Torosyan noted that each citizen should take individual responsibility to correctly wear face masks and avoid attending mass gatherings in order to slow the spread of the virus.

4 p.m. 

PanARMENIAN.Net reports that, in response to their question, the office of Deputy Prime Minister and Warden of the Special Commission Tigran Avinyan has said that 788 people who may have come into contact with a COVID-19 patient have been traced thanks to the mobile tracking system put into place by the government. Of the 788 people tested, 93 have been confirmed to have COVID-19.  All 788 people are under mandatory self-isolation.

The COVID-19 Armenia application has had 101,000 downloads. Following telephone consultations with users who took the online test, 57 people have been referred for testing by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, of which 13 have tested positive.

4 p.m.
Sona Martirosyan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, confirmed that 15 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at the Marie Izmirlian orphanage (9 children and 6 staff members). Overall, 46 people were tested. All 15 are feeling well and have not been hospitalized, since they are not showing symptoms. Martirosyan also said that one of the teachers had a fever two days ago and has been isolated. Her test result has not yet come back and the Ministry is not certain if the teacher was the source of the spread. The area of the orphanage has been disinfected and epidemiologists from Arabkir Medical Center are currently working there. The Marie Izmirlian orphanage houses 102 children.

4 p.m.
Sona Martirosyan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, confirmed that 15 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at the Marie Izmirlian orphanage (9 children and 6 staff members). Overall, 46 people were tested. All 15 are feeling well and have not been hospitalized, since they are not showing symptoms. Martirosyan also said that one of the teachers had a fever two days ago and has been isolated. Her test result has not yet come back and the Ministry is not certain if the teacher was the source of the spread. The area of the orphanage has been disinfected and epidemiologists from Arabkir Medical Center are currently working there. The Marie Izmirlian orphanage houses 102 children.

4 p.m.
By the decision of the Special Commission, 46 restaurants and cafes have been shut down for 24 hours as a penalty for not following safety regulations. Sixteen of the restaurants are in Yerevan, namely near Cascade and Aram Street, and 30 are outside Yerevan.

12 p.m.
The Ministry of Health of Artsakh has reported a new case of COVID-19. The patient is from the Shahumyan region and prior to testing positive was already registered as a contact person, lives alone and was in self-isolation. This brings the number of infections in the Republic of Artsakh to 34. Three patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 13; there have been no deaths. Seventy-two people continue to be in quarantine and to date, 725 test samples have been sent to Armenia.

11 a.m.
The Ministry of Health reported 452 new cases of COVID-19 with 81 recoveries, bringing the total number of cases to 7,113, of which 3,842 are active cases and 3,145 have already recovered. Six patients, ages 58, 61, 67, 69, 85 and 86, who all had pre-existing health conditions, died within the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 87. The Ministry also reported that six additional COVID-19 patients died, but the virus was not the cause of the death; 39 such cases have been reported. To date, 51,594 tests have been conducted in Armenia.

A group of Armenian citizens (the number was not mentioned) will return from Moscow on a charter flight today. This time around, passengers had to pay 13,000 rubles ($180 US) for their ticket.

By the decision of the Special Commission of the State of Emergency, restrictions will be imposed on the Sevan community of Gegharkunik region starting from 6 p.m. May 25 and scheduled to last until June 3. According to the decision, it is prohibited to enter or exit the community, unless it is necessary to supply food, medicine, fuel and other basic necessities. To ensure the implementation of the special regime, checkpoints will be installed by police and the National Security Service (NSS).