Armenian health officials warn against ignoring mask wearing requirement
YEREVAN, March 4. /ARKA/. Citing the growing number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 recorded lately by health officials, Armenia's Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan has warned today citizens against ignoring the mandatory mask wearing requirement.
She told a government session today that out of 2,922 people who tested for the infection on March 3, some 491 or 16% tested positive.
According to her, the proportion of people testing positive has grown from the average 5-7% in January and February.
'Therefore, it is necessary to reinstate the mandatory mask wearing requirement and other preventive measures. If we want to protect our loved ones and ourselves from new restrictions, then everything should be done to prevent the spread of the disease,” Avanesyan said.
She warned that the number of infected people may rise dramatically before and after the March 8 International Women's Day, when the movement of people in retail outlets and hotels intensifies. She said the agencies responsible for the operation of public transport, retail outlets and hotels must step up control.
She also said that the citizens by their behavior should contribute to the preservation of their health and economy and create an opportunity to keep the situation within a manageable framework.
In her words, there is a misunderstanding that if someone who had contracted the disease and recovered can stop wearing masks, but, according to her, there is no proven scientific research that their infection with other strains is excluded. 'Therefore, even if citizens have already recovered, they must still observe the mask requirement,' she said.
“Today we are preparing two more hospitals for treatment of people with Covid-19. At the moment we have 865 beds, of which 808 are already occupied and we will increase the number of beds. But even if we are able to provide everyone with the necessary medical assistance, it should be noted that 20% of the cases are severe, and 5% are extremely severe,” said Avanesyan.
Ex-minister of health Arsen Torosyan, who is now Chief of Staff of the Government, noted that discussions with interested parties will be held today in order to strengthen targeted control measures.
“As our own experience shows, this is how we can achieve success. We did so in summer and autumn. I hope that now we will be able to resist the new wave,” Torosyan said.
Thousands of Armenians who regularly turn in for protest rallies organized by the opposition and the prime minister, do not wear masks. During March 1 rally, called by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, government representatives, including Arsen Torosyan, were without masks. The ex-minister refused to answer the questions of journalists why he was without a mask and whether the participation of many citizens in the rallies without masks may result in a new surge of coronavirus cases.
On January 11, the government of Armenia extended the coronavirus quarantine for another six months until July 11, 2021.
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. The death toll from the disease has reached 3,208 as of today.-0-
