COVID-19 Daily Briefing (May 21)

11:30

Arsen Torosyan, the Minister of Health, gave a briefing about the COVID-19 situation in Armenia and the strategy moving forward. The Minister noted that today 335 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, 162 patients have recovered, and three patients died. The total number of confirmed cases is 5,606, of which 2,928 are active cases, 2,581 have recovered and 70 have died. Torosyan noted that a record number of 1,751 tests were conducted on May 20. To date, 375 people working in healthcare institutions (not just doctors and nurses) have been infected with COVID-19. The Minister said that, if the current trend continues, Armenia will reach 11,200 confirmed cases in 15 days.

Torosyan mentioned that, as of May 20, 270 children and 23 pregnant women have been infected with COVID-19. Two of the children have pneumonia but all of them are in stable condition. The Minister said that children should also wear face masks to reduce their infection risk.

Speaking about patients’ health conditions, Torosyan said that 135 are in serious condition, 63 are in critical condition, and 15 of the infected patients are on ventilators. The bed capacity of Armenia’s ICUs are equipped to take care of 203 patients, 131 of which are already occupied. He explained that, as the number of confirmed cases increases, the number of patients in serious or critical condition also keeps increasing. Torosyan said that this is the scenario that the government has been trying to avoid and that they have to do everything to ensure that patients in serious or critical condition have necessary treatment available to them. He went on to say that the only way that the country can avoid such a scenario is if citizens and businesses strictly follow the rules and regulations set by the Special Commission.

Speaking about the strategy moving forward, Torosyan said that patients who are either asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms will be moved out of hospitals and hotels to continue their self-isolation in their homes, likely starting tomorrow. All new confirmed cases that are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms will also not be hospitalized and will self-isolate in their homes. Torosyan clarified that sending some of the patients home does not mean that they will not be monitored and treated, if necessary. It means that the government is changing its strategy for fighting the virus. He also said that Armenia was among the very few countries that kept asymptomatic patients in hotels or hospitals.

While answering reporters’ questions, Torosyan said that wearing masks will be a requirement as long as it is necessary to limit the spread of the virus. He explained that wearing a mask correctly has to become a habit, so that citizens are protected from being infected. Torosyan said that an individualized approach will also be needed because it is very likely that some citizens will not be able to wear masks because of other health conditions. Torosyan reaffirmed that the government’s priority at this point is to ensure that all those in need of treatment are hospitalized and receive the necessary treatment. Contact tracing of new confirmed cases is also among the government’s priorities, to break the chain of transmission. Speaking about the expenses incurred by the Ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic, Torosyan said that, to date, 1.98 billion AMD in donations was transferred to the special account created, 2.15 billion was allocated from the state budget, and an additional 1.42 billion will be allocated from the state budget soon. Overall, 2.4 billion AMD of the allocated resources have been used so far. Over 464 million AMD was paid for various construction work at medical centers and 1.6 billion AMD will be used to purchase medical equipment. Torosyan said that, according to estimates, Armenia will need over $300 million by the end of the year.

Speaking about the assistance Armenia received from international organizations, Torosyan mentioned the 2,000 diagnostic tests from the World Health Organization, the $20,000 financial assistance from China, the 40,000 franc donation from Switzerland, the 20,000 tests from Russia, the medical supplies from United Arab Emirates, and the 2.7 million EUR from the European Union.

11 a.m.

The Ministry of Health reported that 335 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed and 162 patients have recovered in Armenia, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,606, of which 2,928 are active cases and 2,581 have recovered. Three patients, ages 64, 65, and 90, who all had pre-existing health conditions died, bringing the total number of deaths to 70. To date, 45,822 tests have been conducted.

10 a.m.

During the government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the situation with the coronavirus pandemic is concerning in Armenia with 335 new daily cases of COVID-19 and a total of 70 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Pashinyan said he had also asked for a report on the general attitude of the population regarding the virus, the results of which were surprising and included narratives like the government is paying people to register them as COVID-19 patients supposedly to receive additional international funding and registering non-COVID-related deaths as COVID-related deaths.

Pashinyan said he wanted to reiterate that the government has never reported false information related to the outbreak since the first case was confirmed in the country.

According to Pashinyan, the situation is more serious than citizens are viewing it. To avoid returning to a forced lockdown, Armenians need to adopt the guidelines put forward by the Special Commission.

The government’s strategy at this stage is to ensure that conditions of quarantine are followed without having to instate a forced lockdown. The Special Commission will work more intensively, the police will implement stricter control over individuals not following the rules, state oversight bodies should also impose very strict supervision over businesses. Pashinyan said there is one extremely effective method of fighting the virus, which is a heightened sense of personal responsibility in parallel to the initiatives of the government. If the situation is not taken seriously, Armenia could run out of healthcare capacity to treat patients.