Abkhazia: record coronavirus case highs and a festival at the height of the pandemic

Abkhazia has set a new anti-record for the number of people infected with coronavirus in 24 hours. On October 6, out of 247 tested, 103 people were identified as infected. Many demand the government start implementing new strict limitations. Alongside with this, an international culture festival is being conducted in Abkhazia.

There have been a total of 1868 cases detected in Abkhazia, out of them 655 recovered and 15 died.

Meanwhile, on October 7, the Fazil Iskander international culture festival started in Abkhazia. Traditionally it takes place in the venue of the Russian Drama Theater named after the writer. It will start with a premiere of ‘Chik’s Childhood’ by Ossetian director Aslan Galazov. The picture was filmed in Abkhazia for the 90th anniversary of the classic writer.

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Due to the pandemic, mass events have been forbidden in Abkhazia since October. The only exception was made for cultural agencies that were also obliged to follow safety measures.

The festival organizers say, “initially they were planning on a completely different scale, however had to adjust and review according to the circumstances”. Nevertheless, they still expect viewers to attend the 500-seat theater.

This fact drew certain dissatisfaction among some social media users:

“It’s unclear, now we have an epidemic and have to follow procedures, now there is a festival and you can attend it”, writes one of the users.

Swift growth of the number of the infected raises alarm among the citizens. Many call upon the government to introduce stricter limitations.

“Based on how fast the number of the infected increases, limiting measures are insufficient, it would have been better if a quarantine was announced! Close schools, kindergartens, institutions — at least for two weeks! Give doctors some time to take a breath, bring the morbidity level down a bit and gain some time to treat people”.

“No one ever, in any country, relied solely on the consciousness of citizens! Then why do we need a state, a government, power organs… Why is there no supervision, nobody checks how those, albeit mild but still implemented measures, work?!”, write users.

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