Georgia has no plans to introduce tougher restrictions on business due to Covid

Despite the increase in the incidence of coronavirus, the government does not intend to impose severe restrictions on business.

“There are no plans to stop the economy in Georgia, it is enough that public transport has been stopped throughout the country (from May 3 to 12, 2021), and this has contributed to a decrease in population mobility,” Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said on May 6.

In 2020, a different approach was taken – with an increase in the number of cases of coronavirus infection, a tough closure of all types of business followed.

Now the epidemiological situation is being managed without these extreme measures, which Turnava says ‘is the right approach.’

The third wave of coronavirus in Georgia began in mid-April 2021, and epidemiologists expect its peak in mid-May.

To limit mobility, the government has announced a lengthy Easter vacation until May 13. During this entire period, public transport will not work, the curfew continues, from 21:00 to 05:00. Also, on Saturdays and Sundays, cafes and restaurants can still only work in open spaces.

Earlier, the government lifted most of the restrictions imposed in 2020 in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. So far, this has not helped the economy – in the fall of 2020, GDP fell by 6.2%.

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Georgia was closed in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, before that, in 2019, more than 9 million foreign visitors visited Georgia, and tourism brought a total of $ 3.2 billion to the Georgian economy.

Georgia’s economy contracted 6.1 percent in 2020, a record decline in 26 years, according to the National Statistical Office.