Georgia seeks NATO assistance in equipping medical checkpoints

Tbilisi has erected 100 fully-equipped medical stations in the course of its fight against the pandemic.

Those with mild symptoms will not be hospitalized. Minister of Health Ekaterina Tikaradze says that these patients will be treated in quarantine. This measure will help avoid overwhelming the hospitals, and at the same time reduce the risk of patients infecting other family members.

Statistics from 10 am April 7 show that there are 195 reported coronavirus cases in Georgia. 4735 people are in quarantine, 383 are under medical surveillance, 39 patients have recovered, and 2 have died.

Of those infected, 81 have developed pneumonia. One of them is in critical condition and is on a ventilator. Two of the patients are pregnant women, who report feeling fine.

Source worldometers.info reports that there are only 692 coronavirus patients per 1M population in Georgia, and that this is one of the lowest rates in Europe. Only Ukraine’s ratio is lower, at 146. In Azerbaijan, there are 4438 infected per 1M population, and in Armenia, it’s 1735.

On April 3, in its fight against coronavirus, Georgia turned to the NATO Disaster Response Center (EADRCC) to help equip 100 medical checkpoints. This meant providing 100 cooking stations, 100 field medical kits, 2500 cot beds, 100 generators, 100 refrigerators, 100 electric kettles, etc.

Samegrelo may be sealed off

Epidemiologists are still trying to establish the full list of contacts for the 33-year-old athlete who, despite the state of emergency, left Tbilisi and, after arriving in Samegrelo, went to visit relatives in several nearby cities: Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha and Chkhorotska. On April 4, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and is now being treated in one of the clinics. He says that he had contact with 17 individuals.

17 people were transported to the quarantine zone in Anaklia. Among them are a pregnant woman and two young children. The circle of direct and indirect contact with the infected athlete includes more than 90 people. Representatives from the regional administration say that if several of those who came in contact with the athlete test positive for the virus, then they will have to put Samegrelo on lockdown.

Rapid-result coronavirus tests were performed on 100 employees from a hospital in Sachkhere, where one of the infectious disease doctors tested positive. No new cases were diagnosed, but 10 employees remained in self-isolation. The hospital still fully operational.

9 more National Bank employees have tested positive for coronavirus. All of them had had contact with 7 colleagues who had previously become infected. The transmission of the virus seems to have occurred through banknotes.

The first case of communal transmission was reported in Batumi when a 60-year-old woman sought medical assistance for abdominal cramps and diarrhea. All 6 emergency doctors who came into contact with her are now quarantined.

To prevent further spread of the disease, Georgian authorities have shut down all agricultural markets in Tbilisi and the Kakheti region, as well as in the cities of Senaki and Zugdidi in Western Georgia. The Poti market was closed, and all buyers and sellers had their temperature taken at the exit, and the money was disinfected, and even ironed.

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The first coronavirus case in Georgia was reported on February 26, 2020. To combat the pandemic, the government declared a state of emergency on March 21, and general quarantine was declared on March 31.