Armenia: movement restriction enforced, police monitoring compliance
March 25 is the first day that people are prohibited from leaving the house unless necessary in Armenia. The country declared a state of emergency on March 16 to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. The restriction on free movement came into force on March 24 at 23:59 and will be valid until the same time on March 31.
Now it is prohibited to leave home without a passport or ID card and a “travel form.” Everyone must report the reason why they are leaving, their home address and final destination, the time they left and the time they expect to return.
The police will monitor compliance with the new regulations.
On the morning of March 25, Armenia reported 265 coronavirus cases, 16 of which had recovered and been discharged from the hospital.
Police patrolling the streets
The police began patrolling on the evening of March 24, immediately after the new restrictions came into force.
Policemen drove through the streets of Yerevan, going from yard to yard and informing citizens about the new quarantine rules.
On March 25, deputy chief of police Hayk Mhryan said this morning, police reported 92 violations of quarantine restrictions. One of these new regulations limits the number of passengers in a car to two, including the driver. In the case of the 92 drivers who violated this regulation, their “extra” passengers were disembarked from the cars.
And these were just “preventative measures.” From 16:00 on, as Mhryan said, the patrol became even more stringent, and started enforcing all regulations stipulated by the state of emergency.
Even more restrictions
Vice Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, who was appointed commandant during the state of emergency, said in the afternoon that the administration is not ruling out the idea of introducing even greater restrictions. The possibility is already being discussed:
“Until March 31, we must reduce the movement of people as much as possible and continue to effectively prevent the spread of the virus, find those who are infected and monitor them…”
According to the commandant, starting March 25, everyone in the country must self-isolate, excluding those who the government has permitted to work. A list of establishments that will continue to operate under these new restrictions was published on March 24.
All violators will be fined in accordance with the administrative code. New amendments were hastily introduced to both this and the criminal code on on March 23. The urgency was due to the fact that after the state of emergency was introduced, the restrictions were already in force, but there were no penalties for violating them.