The latest stories:

Several churches defy Georgian Patriarchate and close churches to the public

Georgian social workers forced to pay for taxis to visit domestic abuse victims

Analysis | Study suggests large numbers in Georgia to celebrate Easter in church

Azerbaijan arrests journalists for ‘violating quarantine’

‘Stay home or what happened to Italy will happen to us’ Georgian health official warns churchgoers

Georgian Government will not close churches — ‘especially on Easter’

Analysis | Georgia follows the Japan trajectory, for now

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That’s it for today, join us again tomorrow for more Coronavirus live updates.

2,000 protest COVID-19 isolation measures in North Ossetia

In Vladikavkaz, MBK-Media, is reporting a protest of 2,000 people at Shtyba Square in the city centre.

The protest started earlier in the day, with the demonstrators calling for an end to social-distancing and isolation measures implemented because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Some protestors also called for the release of Vadim Cheldiyev who had been arrested after sharing a video online that repeated conspiracy theories about COVID-19. 

Protestors have also been calling for the resignation of North Ossetia head, Vyacheslav Bitarov.

The Russian National Guard has arrived at the site of the protest, it has not been dispersed.

Muslim religious authorities in Marneuli forced to distribute food using donkey 

In the Georgian city of Marneuli, Muslim religious authorities have been forced to deliver food to poor families via donkey after their plea to use a car was rejected by the municipality. 

Marneuli was locked down on 23 March to combat the spread of COVID-`19. 

Mirtagi Asadov, the Sheikh at the Supreme Spiritual Administration of Georgian Muslims, told Mtavari Arkhi that they made their appeal to the Marneuli Municipality a couple of days ago.

‘The representatives of the Mayor's office told us they can’t help [poor families], so we offered to distribute [food] using our car, but they refused’, he said. ‘They allowed priests to travel by car, but didn’t allow us.’ 

Shortly after the Georgian government announced a ban on transportation via private cars on 17 April, the Patriarchate of Georgia announced that the ban did not apply to clergy and church personnel.

OC Media has reached out to Marneuli Mayor’s Office for a comment.

Armenian government launches student assistance package

The Armenian government has committed to a new economic assistance package for students. High performing students in their final year of study will have their tuition fully covered by the government. High performing students not in their final year of study will have 75% of the tuition covered by the state.

Interest rates for 2020 on current and new loans for high performing students will also be covered by the state.  

Other students will have their loans partially subsidised.

Half of those infected with COVID-19 in Azerbaijan have recovered

According to the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers, Azerbaijan currently has a total of 1398 cases, 719 recoveries, 19 fatalities, and 667 active cases.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Sunday, 19 April. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

On Friday, media outlet Derbent and other local news sources reported that Anatoliy Karibov, Vice Prime Minister of Daghestan, was placed in intensive care at the Republican Centre of Infectious Diseases in the city of Makhachkala.

Armenia’s Embassy in Russia has announced that 100 Armenian citizens were flown to Armenia on a charter flight from Krasnodar today. Priority was given to those who were facing housing problems in Krasnodar, those who have children, those who require post-surgery recovery and treatment in Armenia or those who are in an otherwise extremely difficult situation.

In Azerbaijan, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers announced that the special quarantine regime in the country will be prolonged until 4 May. They also announced that the borders with Georgia and Iran will also be closed until this date. 

With the decree of acting  President Valeriy Bganba, a state of emergency with a curfew has been extended in Abkhazia until May, though some regulations have been relaxed. As a result, Abkhazian authorities will allow agricultural markets, closed since 28 March, to function for three days a week starting tomorrow.

If you appreciate our live updates during this difficult time, please consider supporting our work. Every little bit helps! 

Read more from yesterday as well as the latest stories:

Several churches defy Georgian Patriarchate and close churches to the public

Georgian social workers forced to pay for taxis to visit domestic abuse victims

Analysis | Study suggests large numbers in Georgia to celebrate Easter in church

Azerbaijan arrests journalists for ‘violating quarantine’

‘Stay home or what happened to Italy will happen to us’ Georgian health official warns churchgoers

Georgian Government will not close churches — ‘especially on Easter’

Analysis | Georgia follows the Japan trajectory, for now