Armenia receives medical equipment from Georgia to aid in fight against coronavirus

Georgia has sent 27 ventilators to Armenia as a gift from the Armenian community in Georgia, as well as Georgian businessmen and public figures, writes aliq.ge. 

Georgia has been successful in fighting the disease and is ready to help neighboring countries where the situation is more serious.

Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of the Georgian National Center for Disease Control, has announced that Georgia is ready to help Armenia in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic. There is still no official answer from the Armenian government.

What Georgia has already sent and what else Armenia should expect to receive

On June 7, news spread that the Armenian community in Georgia had arranged for 10 ventilators to be sent to Armenia.

Over the next several days, Armenians in Tbilisi, as well as Georgian businessmen and public figures, were able to obtain 17 more ventilators. In total, 27 ventilators were sent through the Armenian Embassy in Georgia, and in the space of a few hours, were already on the Georgian-Armenian border.

The majority of the ventilators will be sent to the Nork Infectious Disease Hospital, which has been treating coronavirus patients since the outbreak of the epidemic. The rest will be sent to regional clinics.

One of the initiators of the aid project suggested that they start collecting funding and materials using the slogan “One Mask = One Life.”  Representatives of other Armenian communities in Georgia have already joined the effort. The money gathered will be used to purchase masks, which will then be sent to Armenia and distributed among low-income families.

The effort to collect funding to help Armenia is still ongoing in Georgia.

The Armenian Minister of Health has already thanked Georgia for the assistance:

“Thanks to these devices, our patients can breathe easy, in both the literal and the figurative sense of the word.”

Help from Georgian technological companies

The Georgian technology company Edison Tech Solutions has already offered its assistance to Armenia. The company stated that they were ready to provide five disinfection booths manufactured in Georgia to Yerevan free of charge as aid in the fight against coronavirus.

“We are ready to send five disinfection booths to our neighboring country within the next week. These booths can be installed in public places, for example, in Georgia, they have been set up at the Okrib bus station and Gagua Clinic, among other places. Armenia, if it so wishes, can use them and put them in, say, hospitals to prevent the internal spread of infection. As I said, they will be ready in maximum one week, the rest depends on the exact time and formal intergovernmental procedures,” said the founder of the company, Givi Beridze.

These booths were built about a month ago to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

What other types of assistance is Georgia offering?

Georgia offered its assistance in the fight against coronavirus infection on June 2.

Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of the Georgian National Center for Disease Control, said that Georgian doctors are prepared to help Armenia.

“We have very good relations with the National Center for Disease Control in Armenia, and if our colleagues need it, we are ready to assist them in whatever way possible.

I am certain that the Georgian government and the Ministry of Health will not refuse to provide assistance to Armenia. The Armenian Ministry of Health must decide whether our help is needed,” stated Gamkrelidze.

However, there has not yet been an official comment from Armenia in response to the Georgian side’s proposal.

However, Georgia’s assistance does not stop there. On June 4, a petition was launched, which calls on the Georgian government to provide further assistance:

“We ask the Georgian government to consider providing assistance to our neighboring country in this a difficult time. By assistance, we mean offering to Armenian patients in Georgia. We believe that this is the right step to help our neighbor and to resolve the epidemiological situation in the region.”

Comments on social media

The Armenian Facebook community is actively spreading photos of the ventilators they have received and commenting on the minister’s statements.

Here are some of their comments:

“As a citizen of Armenia, I express my deep gratitude to our compatriots living in Georgia, as well as to the Georgians, for all the help and support they have provided in these hard times.”

“Was it really impossible for us to purchase these devices for the past so many months? Thank God, we were given these ventilators, even though it was late, but not too late. And our specialists learned that with their help, our citizens will be able to breathe.”

“It’s very embarrassing that our government is unable to take care of the situation themselves, and so now they have to help us.”

“Thank you, Georgian brothers, for the help!”