Following today’s meeting of the Commandant’s Office, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a news briefing with Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan. The COVID-19 situation and the decisions made at the meeting of the Commandant’s Office were presented during the briefing.

Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the epidemiological situation in Armenia continues to deteriorate. “The platform of public control over the observance of the applicable restrictions has been functioning for two days now, and the information received helps us understand why all this is happening. The answer is simple and unambiguous: widespread and large-scale non-compliance with the rules. Thousands of such cases have already been published in social networks, including my Facebook page,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Prime Minister, as a result of all this there is an alarming trend. “The information published on the site of public control becomes a reason for hate speech, criticism of those citizens, regarding whom the information about non-compliance with the anti-epidemiological rules is published. It is unacceptable for one simple reason: it is a story about us all. Unfortunately, I myself became infected with the coronavirus, which means that somewhere I did something wrong. This is a public platform not to condemn people, but to better understand our problem,” the Premier stressed.

Touching upon the concept of considering coronavirus as an opportunity, Nikol Pashinyan added that it leads to significant changes in our society. “It seems that we are starting to revise our attitude towards the rules of social coexistence and our habits. I am convinced that after all this we will have quite a different attitude towards the applicable rules. Unfortunately, this happens at the cost of lives, and I once again express my condolences to all the families who suffered losses because of the coronavirus,” the Prime Minister said.

The Commandant’s Office is considering several development scenarios. “We are also discussing the economic impact of these scenarios and we will make a decision in this context,” the Head of Government said.

Arsen Torosyan advised that a 33-year-old citizen had died due to the coronavirus. He had chronic diseases. 418 patients are in serious and 81 patients - in critical condition. “We must state that no one, regardless of age, gender or status, is safe. We need to adapt our thinking to these new realities, we must look around us. We will not find a single family where there are no elderly people. Almost all families have members with a chronic disease: diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, excess weight, cancer. And all these our citizens are a direct target of the coronavirus. When we greet each other, when we meet on the street, this idea should take us home where our relatives live,” Arsen Torosyan noted.

The Minister stressed that they do not expect the number of coronavirus patients to be zero in a month, but expect to have a situation where everyone can get proper medical care. The country’s resources for providing proper medical care are limited. There is no country where countless citizens can be served.

Coordinator of Artashat Medical Center’s outpatient activities Lilit Museyan added that due to the situation with the coronavirus, she left her job and family in Yerevan and moved to Artashat. “Coronavirus has spread all over the world and this problem affects us all. I find an explanation for this in negligence. We should abide by the motto: “My mask saves you, your mask saves me.” We are fighting for you, and you should fight for us and return us to our families, to our former life. I urge you to abide by the rules of behavior and restrictions. No matter how hard it may be, medical workers will not take a step back, they will not give up the disease, we will win this fight together,” she said