A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Before discussing the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the epidemiological situation, noting that some increase in COVID-19 statistics had been registered in recent days, which is worrying.

Healthcare Minister Anahit Avanesyan reported on the epidemiological situation in the country. “We have recently seen some rise in the incidence of COVID-19. As of yesterday, we had 491 positive findings or 16% out of a total of 2922 tests. Only 5-7% of the tests conducted were positive in January-February. We can see that the toll has increased to 16%, and forecasts show that this figure will be up again next week,” the Minister said.

Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office Arsen Torosyan said a discussion will be held later today with the departments concerned to strengthen the control measures. “We had quite good results last summer and fall. I hope that this time, too, we will be able to thwart the upcoming tide,” Arsen Torosyan noted.

The government amended one of its earlier decisions. Accordingly, it is planned to establish a grace period of 6 months for the repayment of loans granted under the 3rd measure to neutralize the economic consequences of the coronavirus, based on the application of economic entities that have encountered financial difficulties due to the war.

The government passed another decision to amend the 25th COVID-19 Response Measure. The amendment suggests extending the deadlines for submission of applications and allocation of compensation to beneficiaries, as well as modifying the economic activity classifications for transportation companies engaged in tourism industry.

The Executive made redistribution in the state budget and amended one of its previous decisions with a view to earmarking funds to Tavush Marz administration. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Suren Papikyan said more than 234 million drams will be made available for the repair of houses damaged by shelling, as well as for rebuilding the children’s park.

The meeting approved the draft law on amending the RA Code of Administrative Proceedings. The bill provides for increased efficiency in administrative proceedings, lower workload for the Administrative Court and the Administrative Court of Appeals, which in turn will allow the Courts to review cases within reasonable deadlines. The Code envisages the use of written procedures. According to Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan, the need to introduce written procedures in administrative proceedings is primarily due to the fact that a huge number of decisions on fines issued by the Traffic Police are challenged in the Administrative Court.