COVID-19 Daily Briefing (April 23)

6:30 p.m.
230 citizens of Armenia returned from Saint Petersburg on a charter flight today. This is already the seventh charter flight from Russia organized by the Armenian government (four from Moscow, one from Krasnodar and one from Rostov-on-Don). The Tashir Charitable Foundation paid for the flight’s expenses. All 230 passengers will be placed under a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The Russian side also sent medical supplies and diagnostic tests on the same charter flight.

5 p.m.

Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan held a press conference to provide further updates regarding restrictions on economic activity across Armenia. Simonyan noted that the Special Commission lifted a number of restrictions yesterday and also outlined the conditions under which these businesses must function.

According to Decision N.27 of the Warden, all business owners must follow strict safety regulations to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

Additional regulations include:

• Employers must arrange for the transportation of their employees from their homes to the place of employment (all public transportation has been suspended).
• During business hours, employees will not be allowed to leave the premises of their employment.

The Deputy Minister said that, in the coming days, other types of businesses might be allowed to begin operations. In the meantime, businesses are allowed to apply for an exemption to the restrictions through the website https://covid19.gov.am/hy.

Regarding oversight, Simonyan said that Armenia’s police are monitoring the entire country to ensure people are following the regulations set by the Special Commission on the State of Emergency. Additionally, the Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Health is monitoring businesses to ensure compliance. Over the last several weeks, several businesses (primarily supermarkets and grocery stores) have been forced to shut down for a number of hours to ensure that they bring their operations up to code.

4 p.m.

During a press conference regarding Armenian Genocide commemoration events, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Ara Khzmalyan once again presented the schedule of events for April 23 and 24. At 9 p.m. on April 23, church bells across the country will ring and all street lights will be turned off. The government is calling on citizens to turn off the lights in their homes and “turn their gazes toward the Genocide Memorial” or watch the live broadcast on Public TV and show solidarity by turning on their cellphone lights and standing at their windows. At the same time, there will be a live performance at the Genocide Memorial. At 10 a.m. on April 24, the Prime Minister, the President, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Catholicos of All Armenians will visit the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial; renowned pianist Hayk Meliqyan will perform live as they pay their respects. At 10 p.m., a cultural program with the participation of national ensembles and individual artists will commence and will continue until 6 a.m. on April 25.

Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Tigran Virabyan also added that, starting at 8 a.m. on April 24, those with an Armenian cell phone number can send a text message to “1915” to confirm their participation in the commemoration in the evening. Those from other countries can text 0037433191500. The names of people who have sent messages will be projected onto the columns of the Memorial. It will be possible to send in a maximum of five names from the same number. Virabyan said it would be preferable if the names are written in the Armenia alphabet and that any writing with promotional content will not be accepted. The text messages will symbolically cost one dram. Virabyan said the telecommunication companies were more than ready to forgo the cost of the messages but due to legislative requirements it was not possible to make the texts completely free of charge.

11 a.m.

During the Government session, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan provided updates regarding the COVID-19 situation in the country. He said that 50 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 1523, of which 840 are active; 26 people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 659. To date, 24 people have died after contracting COVID-19. Speaking about the overall condition of the patients, Torosyan informed that 10 patients are in critical condition, over 200 have pneumonia, five patients are on ventilators, one of whom is a 27-year-old patient with pre-existing chronic health issues. Torosyan said doctors are doing everything they can to stabilize her condition and he hopes that it will be possible to save her life. The Minister said that the growth rate of cases has not changed and that bed capacity is still sufficient to hospitalize all the patients who test positive for the virus. He also said that those with light symptoms are being kept in hotels.

Considering that restrictions on new forms of economic activity were lifted by the decision of the Special Commission, Torosyan stressed the importance of following the guidelines. The Minister also provided updates on the situation in Armenia’s neighbouring countries. Speaking about the situation in Iran, he said that the number of new confirmed cases as well as deaths is declining every day. Torosyan noted that it seems that the country is gradually getting back to normal, restrictions are being eased and the number of new cases are declining. Restrictions are also being eased in European countries, but there is an ongoing debate on whether easing the restrictions will result in a second wave of infection.

Tigran Avinyan, the Warden of the Special Commission and Deputy Prime Minister, reminded that based on the Commission’s decision, restrictions on certain forms of activities were lifted in the following industries:

– processing manufacturing;

– wholesale, retail, car and motorcycle repair;

– information and communications;

– real estate and specialized/professional scientific and technical work;

–  service sector.

Avinyan said that the restrictions on interregional movement have been lifted and that the checkpoints set in designated areas will be removed. If needed, movement restrictions will be introduced and communities, where there is an increased risk for the spread of virus, will be placed under lockdown. Avinyan noted that, as promised, the government is moving forward with a step-by-step approach. The spread of the virus is under control, and if the current trend continues, restrictions on more forms of economic activity will be lifted very soon.

During the session, the government discussed and adopted the fourteenth assistance package that targets students and is aimed at mitigating the economic consequences of COVID-19. Arayik Harutyunyan, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, presented the package. The Minister explained that the beneficiaries of this program are divided into three groups. The first group includes post-secondary students in their final year of study at universities identified by the decision and who have maintained a 90% average. For these students, tuition fees for the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year will be fully compensated by the state. The second group includes all post-secondary students who are not in their final year and who have maintained a 90% average. For these students, 70% of their tuition for the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year will be compensated by the state. And the final, third group includes students studying at public and state- accredited universities (including distance education students) who have student loans. The interest on student loans taken between May 1 and December 31, 2020 will be fully subsidized by the state for those students who have maintained an 80% average. The interest rate for students whose average grade is less than 80% will be 4% (the remaining 5% will be subsidized by the state).

Artur Javadyan, Governor of the Central Bank, noted that the process to acquire student loans has been simplified and it is expected that more students will apply for loans after the new assistance package is introduced.

11 a.m.
According to the Ministry of Health, 50 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Armenia, bringing the total number of cases to 1523, of which 840 are active; 26 people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 659. No patient died in the last 24 hours; the number of deaths in the country stands at 24.

9:30 a.m.

By the decision of the Special Commission, starting at 11:59 p.m. on April 22, a number of restrictions on movement and economic activity have been lifted.

The restriction on inter-regional movement has been lifted and all checkpoints will be removed. Additional supervision will be applied at certain high risk communities. The restrictions on the freedom of movement of individuals and public transportation remain unchanged.

Restrictions on a number of kinds of economic activity have been lifted.

Manufacturing industry:

• Printing

• Production of pesticides and other agrochemicals

• Stone cutting, processing and carving/finishing

• Production of metal construction structures

• Manufacturing of electrical wiring devices

• Repair of finished metal products, machines and equipment

• Installation of industrial machines and equipment

Wholesale, retail, car and motorcycle repair:

Wholesale of agricultural machinery, equipment and spare parts

Wholesale of machinery for mining, construction and civil construction

Certain kinds of non-specialized retail

Information and communications:

• Book publishing

• Production, post production and publication/distribution of television programs

Real estate and specialized/professional scientific and technical work

• Technical tests and analysis

• Scientific research and experimental development in the field of natural and technical sciences

Administrative and related sectors:

• Administrative and related activities for businesses and companies whose activities are not suspended

Services and other sectors:

• Labor unions

• Repair of computers and other communication devices

• Repair of household electronic devices

• Repair of household items and gardening equipment

The Special Commission has set sanitary epidemiological safety rules for certain kinds of activity like the textile industry, manufacturing of clothes, shoes, electronic devices, furniture production, certain kinds of sports clubs, as well as a number of individual cases which could be exempt from the restrictions.