Armenia cancels mask mandate in open spaces

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. Citing a considerable drop in the number of new cases of Covid-19 in the country, Armenia’s Ministry of Health has cancelled today mask mandate in open spaces.

The ministry said, however, that mask wearing in enclosed areas remains in force.

The mask mandate does not apply to children up to 5 years old, to people at their home, also to speakers and participants of ceremonial events headed by the President, the Catholicos of All Armenians (head of the Church), the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the President of the Constitutional Court, and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council (excluding journalists and service personnel),

It neither applies to citizens travelling by their personal vehicles, sign language interpreters during television broadcasts, people with varying degrees of hearing and speech impairment and citizens working with them, to people while they smoke, eat and drink, to television presenters who are alone in the studio during broadcasts, people with mental and behavioral disorders, people with cognitive disabilities, people with facial injuries or who have undergone maxillofacial surgery in the oral area.

Armenian health officials have recorded 193 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, saying the total number of confirmed cases rose to 343,350 as of Friday morning.

According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 people have died from Covid-19 during the past 24 hours. The total tally of such deaths is now 7,885.

On November 11, the government of Armenia extended the coronavirus quarantine until June 20, 2022.

The nationwide quarantine was first imposed on September 11, 2020 replacing the state of emergency that was declared on March 16 to stop the spread of coronavirus. -0-