Weekly update

21 March

• ARMENPRESS reported, because of the growing number of novel coronavirus patients in Armenia, healthcare authorities have designated other hospitals in addition to the Nork Infectious Diseases hospital to treat the cases, Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said. Earlier, all suspected and confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Armenia were being taken to the Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yerevan. Torosyan said on March 21 that 5 medical facilities have been designated to treat coronavirus patients in Yerevan. He said that few patients are also currently hospitalized in two hospitals in provinces. “Asymptomatic patients are being taken to other hospitals, the others remain at the [Nork Infectious Diseases hospital]”, he said. The healthcare minister said so far 11 patients have been confirmed to have pneumonia by x-ray tests. Only 3 of them require intensive care. Torosyan said all patients are in non-life threatening condition. “I’d like to inform that today there are more than 600 people under quarantine. We find that the reserve is nearing its end, and we find that the preventive measures must be conditioned with self-quarantine. Experience shows that our citizens not always adhere to it. That’s why the parliament debated during a special session the bill on envisaging liability for the violation of self-quarantine or quarantine. I believe that this is a reasonable requirement, when a citizen is endangering public health, they must be held to account,” Torosyan said on social media. As of March 21, the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Armenia stands at 160. One patient has recovered and was discharged on March 15th. 

20 March

• President Donald Trump will cancel an in-person meeting of G7 leaders at Camp David in June because of the coronavirus and will hold a video-conference instead, the White House said on Thursday, REUTERS reported. The decision comes as nations around the world seal their borders and ban travel to stop the virus’ spread. Trump held a video-conference with the leaders of the world’s major industrialized countries earlier this week and plans to repeat that in April, May and June, when the physical meeting at the presidential retreat in Maryland was scheduled to take place.

19 March

• At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked the Cabinet members to thank with applause the country's businessmen and healthcare providers for their work during the current state of emergency in Armenia due to coronavirus., NEWS.am said. "[Upper] Lars [checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border] is closed, our border with Iran is closed, everything is closed, but it’s all the same; our businessmen are able to find ways, import food products, and I want to thank all of them," he said, in particular. "If I saw the need to speak from this podium in the case of businessmen, there is no such need in the case of healthcare system workers because that appreciation is widespread and everywhere."

18 March

• The Police in Moscow arrested Vahagn Harutyunyan, the lead of the investigative group investigating the case of mass disorders in the streets of Yerevan in 2008. Moscow Agency informed, referring to their sources in the law enforcement agencies, that Harutyunyan was arrested on March 14, LRAGIR.am said. “On March 14, Saturday on the Tverskaya Street, the police arrested Vahagn Styopa Harutyunyan born in 1994,” the news report says. Harutyunyan is charged with facilitating falsification of evidence to the case, as well as misuse of his formal powers resulting in grave consequences and misuse of formal powers along with the use of violence, weapons or special means. Harutyunyan was wanted since October 2018. Later on the Russian law enforcement agencies set him free. His extradition is going to be discussed soon.

17 March

• PANORAMA.am reported, guided by Article 208 of the Armenian Constitution and Article 6.1 of the constitutional law “On Referendum”, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is suspending all activities, processes and events being carried out to prepare and hold the referendum on constitutional amendments initially slated for April 5, the commission said in a statement. The move comes after the Armenian government made a decision to declare a month-long state of emergency in the country on March 16.

16 March

• An extraordinary Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan., the Prime Minister Office said. The Government approved the draft decision “On declaring state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia.” The decision comes as a response the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the world and in Armenia, the March 13, 2020 declaration by the Head of WHO on the recognition of the spread of this disease as a pandemic. The Government decided to declare a state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia from March 16, 18:30, local time, through April 14, 17:00. A crisis management center (hereinafter Commandant’s Office) will set up to ensure centralized crisis management. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan shall be appointed to the post of Commandant. The Commandant’s Office is composed as follows: Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministers of Emergency Situations, Healthcare, Economy, Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, State Revenue Committee Chairman, Acting Head of Police Force, Acting National Security Service Director, Head of the Coordination Bureau for Inspection Bodies’ Activities, Head of the Market Control Authority, Head of the Food Security Inspection Body. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan will support the activities of the Commandant’s Office.

Sources: https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/, https://www.reuters.com/, https://armenpress.am, https://news.am/eng/,  https://www.panorama.am/en/, https://www.lragir.am/en/.