Azerbaijan takes first steps in relaxing quarantine measures

Azerbaijan has relaxed its strict quarantine measures starting on April 27. 

Specifically:

1. commerce has resumed in all previously closed stores, except those located in shopping centers;
2. tailors, shoe shops, and photography studios have reopened;
3. individual tutoring and apartment cleaning services are permitted to resume work; 

Those who do not have an official employment certificate are now permitted by SMS to leave the house for three hours (whereas before, they were only allowed two hours).

Official statistics state that in the past 24 hours, another person has died due to COVID-19 and 33 new cases were reported in Azerbaijan. During the same period, 23 people have recovered and were discharged from the hospital.

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This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Azerbaijan to  1,678. Of these patients, 22 have died and 1 162 have recovered. 

On the first day that quarantine measures were relaxed in Baku, both vehicle and foot traffic significantly increased, and as a result, there were traffic jams.

A resident of a suburban village reported his impressions of the onslaught of people traveling to the city center:

“I went to buy newspapers and magazines, since the stalls had finally opened. There were tons of people in the streets, they were washing windows, women were out walking with their children, and there were a lot of cars.”

One of the residents from one of the quieter neighborhoods ended up leaving the house in vain:

“I had to go to the bank. I went out after dinner, and it turned out that the bank was open only until 12:00. What a farce. All sorts of jewelry shops and car dealerships were still open, but you still couldn’t go to the places that were necessary. And at the same time, the streets were full of people, as if there was no quarantine. But they all left the house by receiving SMS permission. It’s not clear why they have such measures.”

Some of those officially allowed to work are in no better position. For example, Sevda Hasanova cleans apartments and has several regular clients. Now she is thinking about finding another job, because the conditions laid down by the authorities do not suit her work schedule.

“Yes, cleaners are permitted to work. But in order to do this, you must register as a contractor and pay something like a tax. What’s more, when you go to work for your clients, you need to specify in advance what address you are going to, and even which route you travel. If you suddenly end up taking a different road, then you will be fined. None of this works for me, so I called my clients and said that I couldn’t come to work, at least for now. I don’t even know what I’ll end up doing in the long-run,” says Sevda.