Coronavirus in the Caucasus. Infections again on the rise in Armenia and Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has announced an extension of quarantine regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic in Azerbaijan until September 30, 2020.

The movement of people from the capital to the regions and back remains prohibited, buses will not work on weekends, and shopping centers will not reopen.

• Only museums that have remained closed for the past six months will be be allowed to begin operations again.

The government of Armenia has approved a suite of legal changes that will allow them to stop extending the state of emergency.

The laws will enable them to impose quarantine if infectious diseases make their way into the country, taking into account they danger they pose and how quickly they spread and whether any outbreaks have occurred.

• Moreover, quarantine will imposed on specific cities and villages or even just institutions, and not the whole country. 

A sharp increase in coronavirus cases in the Azerbaijani city of Shirvan has forced the government to take extraordinary measures.

• A task force has been sent to the city, and two hospitals have been forbidden to admit any new patients.

School starts on September 15 this year in Armenia. But distance education is not on the agenda – students will have to go to school six days a week and will be unable to leave during breaks or eat in the school cafeteria.

• The ministry of education, science, culture and sport published a list of rules of conduct for school classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Armenia has passed the peak in terms of the number of coronavirus infections. It was on July 6, when the largest number of positive tests was registered, ”Health Minister Arsen Torosyan told reporters.

He also said that the country is fully prepared for a possible second wave of the epidemic in the fall.

“If this happens, the health care system will be ready to accept all infected people,” the minister said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 38,196 cases of infection have been recorded in Armenia. 728 people died, 28 366 recovered.

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This information and a list of the specific names of doctors who died from the coronavirus in various clinics in the country were published on his Facebook page by the head of the ambulance department of the Lachin hospital, Orhan Jabrail.

In Azerbaijan, no official comments have been published on the death rate among doctors, and there has not yet been a reaction to the published list.

The increase in the number of infections in Azerbaijan continues. Over the past day, 347 people have been infected, in total since the beginning of the pandemic – 28 980 people.

Another 6 people have died, in total 391 people have died since the beginning of the epidemic. 20,974 people recovered.

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Over the past day, 12 new cases have been recorded in Georgia, the day before there was a record since the beginning of the pandemic – 24 cases.

In total, 1,085 people were infected, of which 16 died, 911 recovered.

The alarming situation arose after the coronavirus was confirmed in family members of a 72-year-old man who had recently died from the virus. It turned out that the whole family was working at the clothing market in the center of Tbilisi, near the Dynamo stadium.

The National Center for Disease Control has announced the urgent need to install thermal shields and tighten checks at the entrances to all markets and fairs.

The most difficult place in terms of the spread of coronavirus remains the Kvemo Kartli region. In the Gardaban region, 34 people are infected, the source of the infection is mainly two villages – Karajalari and Karataklia.

However, the problem is that local residents do not cooperate with epidemiologists and refuse to take analysis for testing.

In Georgia, 10 new cases of coronavirus infection per day – after several weeks of the minimum number of new cases. In total, 1,049 people have been infected since the start of the pandemic. Of these, 16 people have died, about 50 people remain in hospitals.

A dangerous situation has arisen in two villages of the Gardabani region – Karajalar and Karatakliya, where mainly ethnic Azerbaijanis live. In general, 23 cases of infection were detected in the district, of which 14 were in the village of Karadzhalar. Of particular concern to epidemiologists is the fact that it has not yet been possible to establish the source of infection for three of them.

Six groups of epidemiologists are working in the villages, and general testing of the population is being carried out. About 60 people have already been quarantined.

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that there was no other way – otherwise the whole system of anti-epidemic measures would lose the force of requirements and become recommendations.

“We understand that it is impossible to extend the state of emergency indefinitely. We decided to develop a legislative package that will allow us to use this toolkit not only in case of declaring a state of emergency, but also in an emergency, ”the prime minister said.

New publications in Russia on large-scale fraud in the official statistics on the number of infections and deaths from Covid-19.

Experts compare official mortality rate for June in 2020 and in 2019. An increase in the number of deaths by an average of 30 percent. But in some regions – by 50-70 percent.

In Ingushetia in June 2020, 167 percent more people died than in June 2019.

According to demographers, this means that more than two hundred died from the coronavirus in Ingushetia, comparable with officially reported 71 deaths.

In St. Petersburg, a record mortality rate over 10 years was also recorded.

“The epidemic in Russia is actually growing at a high speed”, said Alexei Raksha, a former employee of the State Statistical Service, in an interview with Radio Liberty. He was fired from work in early July for publicly expressing doubts about the veracity of official statistics.

According to official figures, more than 700 thousand people have been infected in Russia since the beginning of the pandemic, less than 11 thousand people have died. However, in fact, says Raksha, 30 to 40 thousand people died from causes directly related to COVID-19.

This, too, is most likely an undervaluation, he says – because there is no real information on the Caucasus region.

At the end of 2020, excess mortality in Russia can reach up to 100 thousand people, says Raksha:

“The official website for reporting cases of infection and death – стопкоронавирус. рф – is knowingly false, since death from coronavirus is recorded there only if the virus was the direct cause of death.”

This can explain the strange situation: in the number of new cases, Russia is in fourth place in the world, and in terms of the number of deaths, it is much lower:

“It is clear that this is nonsense. In my estimation, about 600 people are now dying from coronavirus in Russia per day.”

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Stats by worldometers.info

Cases per million population in the Caucasus and neighbouring countries

Armenia — 10 593

Russia — 4 937

Iran — 3 008

Turkey — 2 501

Azerbaijan — 2 267

Georgia — 246

Deaths per million population in the Caucasus and neighbouring countries

Armenia — 189

Iran — 148

Russia — 77

Turkey — 63

Azerbaijan — 29

Georgia — 4

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The servicemen were brought home on a special flight of the German air force. They are in a hospital in the city of Gori and are doing well, the Ministry of Defense said.

The infection occurred as a result of contact with Afghan personnel.

The remaining Georgian troops in Afghanistan will be quarantined for two weeks after returning to Georgia.

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In Armenia, 349 cases of infection per day, in total, 29,285 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.

Another 12 people died, in total, 503 people have died since the start of the epidemic. 16 907 people recovered.

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan stated that the rate of spread of coronavirus in Armenia remains the same – 30% of the tests give a positive result.

In total, 125,088 tests have been carried out since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,273 over the past day.

“It’s good that the percentage is stable, but it’s bad that the absolute numbers remain high,” he said.

The number of seriously ill and extremely severe patients is about 650 people. There are enough places in hospitals – the minister is sure that in Armenia there are no people who need hospitalization who would stay at home.

In general, he assessed the situation as complex but stable.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not rule out that the state of emergency might be extended for the fourth time.

In Armenia, businesses and public transport work, shops are open. Quarantine rules include mandatory wearing of masks and maintaining a distance in public places.

So far, the state of emergency is valid until July 13

In Azerbaijan, 572 cases of infection per day, a total of 18 684 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, 228 people have died, 10 425 people have recovered.

Hard quarantine was reintroduced in Baku on June 21, it was supposed to end on July 5, but it was extended until July 20 due to a sharp continued increase in the number of infections.

In Baku and several other cities and regions, all shops are closed again, except for grocery and drugstores, and the metro is stopped. Transport does not work on weekends, most businesses are stopped.

One of the main restrictions is on movement. People are required to stay at home, you can only go out for two hours and only after receiving special SMS permission from the authorities.

However, police posts were removed from the city streets, which checked the presence of these SMS permissions from drivers. This led to huge traffic jams.

Authorities said they would use surveillance cameras to verify these permits, but it is not yet clear how this can be done.

In Armenia, 593 cases of infection per day, a total of 26,568 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.

Another 6 people died, in total, 459 people have died since the start of the epidemic. 15,036 people recovered.

Minister of health Arsen Torosyan said at a government meeting that all intensive care units in the country were full:

“In each department there are 1-2 free places where we can accommodate only severe and extremely severe patients. Today there are about 650 people in total, 44 of them are connected to mechanical ventilation. ”

• What kind of assistance is Armenia offering citizens to help mitigate the coronavirus crisis?

In Azerbaijan, 556 cases of infection per day, a total of 17 524 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, 214 people have died, 9,715 people have recovered.

The strict quarantine regime resumed on June 21 in Azerbaijan due to the sharp increase in coronavirus infections will most likely not end on July 5, as it was originally planned, but will be extended for another two weeks.

“The strict quarantine regime is already yielding results – we did not allow Azerbaijan to have 600 or more new infections per day,” said Yagut Garayev, representative of TƏBİB (special structure for regulating the work of medical structures).

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In Armenia, 415 cases of infection per day, a total of 25 542 people have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.

Another 10 people died, in total, 443 people have died since the start of the epidemic. 14,048 people recovered.

French President Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, where he said that “in the coming days, France will send another team of volunteer doctors to Armenia to replace those who are already helping their Armenian colleagues in the fight against Covid-19.”

The letter also says about additional financial assistance to Armenia:

“France is ready to consider providing Armenia with a loan of 50-80 million euros, which will provide an opportunity to support its state budget against the background of the problems that Armenia faces this year.”

• What kind of assistance is Armenia offering citizens to help mitigate the coronavirus crisis?

Azerbaijan sets new anti-record: 544 cases in one day.

During the day, another 8 people died, in total, from the beginning of the epidemic, 206 people died.

In total, 16,968 people were infected, of whom 9,369 recovered.

Azerbaijan has doubled the fine for violating quarantine rules, now it is about $ 117 in equivalent.

Several MPs are demanding stricter penalties for violating the quarantine regime. It is proposed to increase the fine to a thousand dollars. The deputy Siyavush Novruzov proposed to fine those who claim they do not believe in coronavirus.

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• A timeline of events in the Caucasus related to coronavirus epidemic, 25-29 June, 2020