Abkhazia opens borders to Russian tourists despite coronavirus fears
Abkhazia has opened its border with Russia and will now allow in tourists without any restrictions; even a certificate of the absence of coronavirus is not required.
In both Russia and Abkhazia, the increase in infections continued in July.
An enormous queue appeared at the border with Russia since the morning of August 1.
The border has been closed since the end of March 2020, which has created big problems for the local population, since for most of the arrival of Russian tourists is the main source of income.
The decision to open the border with Abkhazia was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The Prime Minister of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab said that the Abkhaz side opened the border ‘in mirror fashion’.
“This issue was discussed for a long time and we came to a common opinion,” Ankvab said.
The pandemic in Abkhazia came to a standstill for several weeks in early summer. However, after July 20, 2020, a sharp increase in infections began again. In total, 84 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic. Two of them died, 37 recovered.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in terms of the number of infected: 845 443 cases according to official data as of August 1, 2020. Of these, 14,058 people have died.
However, doctors and activists in Russia and abroad say that the statistics are falsified and the real data is much higher.
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