Armenian PM drops in by phone and asks – how’s life in the times of corona?
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan phoned residents of the country at random and asked them how life under quarantine was treating them – he did this during a Facebook live feed.
Before the calls, he said that one of his most important tasks is to ensure contact with the citizens of the country.
The government is developing a package of social assistance for people who, during the state of emergency and the ban on leaving their homes, were left without work and livelihoods.
According to official data, on March 27, 329 cases of coronavirus infection were recorded in Armenia. One person has died, 28 have recovered. Since March 16, a state of emergency has been introduced in the country. It will be valid until April 14th.
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Knock knock
The first conversation the prime minister had was an elderly woman who lives with her 90-year-old husband.
She said that in the first days after the declaration of the state of emergency, social services came to them and brought food, but that now they had stopped coming. Now the elderly couple is being taken care of by their daughter who came to them from Russia, but who has to depart soon.
Pashinyan was interested in whether people have the means to live, to wait out the state of emergency, while many organizations are not working.
Many said they have just pennies to live on, and were surviving on food pickled in the summer.
In the conversation, Nikol Pashinyan reminded his interlocutors of the restrictions on leaving the house.
From March 25-31 in Armenia it is impossible to leave home without necessity. Before leaving, one must fill out a ‘movement form’, which includes address, goal, time of exit and presumed return. Residents have to take a passport or ID card with them if they do leave the home: these demands are enforced by police.
Latest details
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, 329 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in the country.
Among those infected, there is a two-month-old child who has the disease without symptoms, and his mother, who had a fever for two days. Now both are feeling well.
The condition of one infected is assessed as extremely serious.
One patient infected with coronavirus died on March 26.
On the same day, it became known that the virus entered the army. At first, three cases of infection were reported. On March 27, the numbers rose to five. The new patients were already quarantined the day before.
The country has limited entry and exit. Public events, restaurants, bars and cafes are prohibited.