Surveillance cameras brought in to monitor quarantine regs in Baku

Baku is adding street surveillance cameras to the methods at its disposal to monitor violations of the strict quarantine measures in place in the city.

The quarantine measures were reintroduced on June 21, and will last at least until July 20 due to an increased number of infections in the country. On July 2, 572 new infections were reported in a single day.

The authorities say are trying to better enforce the quarantine regulations for the sake of the population, however many in the public are afraid that the bans in place will only become stricter. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 18,684 people have been infected in Azerbaijan. Of these, 228 have died and 10,425 have recovered.

The new system is being introduced after police posts were removed from the streets to check whether people had SMS permission to have left the house – this system led to enormous traffic jams.

The SMS exit system was implemented in the beginning of the pandemic, and has been in and out of force in the past two months as Azerbaijan has grappled with a drastic rise in infections.

From now on, cars will be checked at random, and the traffic police intends to use the cameras to check whether drivers have permission to be outside.

It has not yet been specified how this system will work.

On social media, people express mainly a sense of bewilderment over the new measures, especially the role of surveillance cameras.

“If I go to the doctor’s appointment and the appointment is delayed for more than two hours – how will the camera check the doctor’s certificate?”

“They will install a chip in us and check whether we have permission for two hours or not?”

“And what if there are 5 people in the car, and only the driver has permission?”

Many residents of Baku are afraid that the authorities may again forbid them to leave their homes on weekends, as has already been done twice in June. Social media users have written much about this traumatic experience, including the inability to go out for two days even for medication or for urgent medical attention.