Georgian cities of Marneuli, Bolnisi under quarantine due to threat of coronavirus outbreak

Two cities in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia – Marneuli and Bolnisi – have been declared quarantine zones since March 23.

All roads to the cities have been blocked by the police the night before.

The cause of the extreme measures was a coronavirus-infected 62-year-old local resident, who later appeared at a ritual event in which dozens of people participated.

She was initially hospitalized at a local clinic hospital, then in serious condition was transferred to a hospital in Tbilisi.

She was one of five people diagnosed with coronavirus on March 22.

As of the morning of March 23 in Georgia, 54 cases of coronavirus we recorded, three patients recovered. 1,966 people are in quarantine, 259 people are in inpatient treatment. On March 21 in the country a state of emergency was declared.

It is not yet clear how this individual became infected.

One account is that this woman’s sister recently visited Azerbaijan but hid it from others. Doctors are waiting for the results of her testing.

It turned out that this woman was seeking medical help at the Aversi Clinic in Marneuli on March 13, but did not say that she had returned from Azerbaijan shortly before.

“The fact that the infection occurred within the country is the most serious problem. We call this “transition at an internal level,” Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia told reporters.

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The quarantine of the cities of Marneuli and Bolnisi includes:

Strict restrictions on entry and exit by the police.

Clinic “Geo-hospital” is moved to quarantine.

In the immediate vicinity of this clinic, a field hospital is being set up. All stoes except grocery stores and pharmacies have been closed, but locals have been allowed to continue farming.