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Armenia’s students to continue distance learning until end of school year

Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture announced that online schooling will continue until the end of May. School will recommence in September.

According to the Ministry, school will likely start a week early in September and classes may be held on Saturdays to help students catch up, depending on the Ministry’s assessment at the end of May of the online education programme launched throughout the country.

Students graduating from high school will have their state exams cancelled. Instead, their average grade from the previous semester will be their final grade.

Final university exams and thesis defences will also be cancelled. Students’ grades will be finalised based on the marks they have received during the academic year.

Workers in Georgia not employed by legal entities not eligible for monthly relief payment

Workers who recently became unemployed and who were not employed by a legal entity (and were not self-employed) cannot benefit from the state social assistance program, Georgian Deputy Health Minister Tamar Barkalaia said today.

The government will pay people who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak ₾200 ($63) per month for the next six months. According to Gakharia, the measure will benefit around 350,000 people and will cost a total of ₾450 million ($140 million). 

The registration of self-employed and informally employed citizens for economic aid will begin on 21 May. Self-employed workers who can prove they have lost income will receive a ₾300 ($94) single-time payment.

Georgia to buy 50,000 quick tests from South Korea

The Georgian government will receive 50,000 antigen tests from South Korea in the beginning of May. 

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili, Georgian authorities have negotiated an agreement with the South Korean company SD Biosensor, Inc., from which they are buying ‘high-quality PCR tests’.

Khvtisiashvili also said that the government expects PCR tests to arrive from Germany, China and Poland next week.

Georgia lifts a number of restrictions

As of today, the Georgian government is lifting the ban on transportation via Taxis and private vehicles. Heavy traffic was reported on a number of locations in the capital, including the western entrance point of Tbilisi.

Citizens are also allowed to enter and leave the major cities of Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, and Rustavi during 27 and 28 April. Otherwise, the restriction on movement in and out of these cities will continue.

The ban on the online sale of merchandise and the operation of open agricultural markets has also been lifted. However, Minister of Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili has said that most agricultural markets do not satisfy the sanitary criteria for reopening and will remain closed until that is addressed. 

Quarantined municipalities, including Marneuli and Bolnisi, will not have restrictions lifted.  The country-wide curfew remains in place.

Governor of Stavropol Krai urges faithful to stay home for Radonitsa

Vladimir Vladimirov, the governor of Stavropol Krai, has urged worshippers to stay at home during Radonitsa, 28 April, and to not visit cemeteries.

At the same time, the list of enterprises that are allowed to operate has been expanded in the region — hairdressers and beauty salons will be able to open as early as 30 April.

Georgia has ‘already reached the peak’ of COVID-19 spread, health officials say

Georgia has already reached the peak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the deputy head of Disease Control Centra Paata Imnadze announced on Sunday.

‘Now our goal is to keep this peak low as long as possible’, he said.

As of 27 April, a total of 496 people have been infected with COVID-19 in Georgia, 149 have recovered, and six have died. 

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Monday, 27 April. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

Abkhazia announced the first death from COVID-19 — a 95-year-old woman. Of the other two confirmed cases in Abkhazia, one has already recovered according to the authorities. 

Daghestan’s Muftiate warned that certain mosques may be closed if people did not stop visiting them during the coronavirus outbreak. The warning came after the Muftiate closed down a mosque in Kizlyar following a crowded Friday prayer.

The Deputy Head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control offered southern Georgia’s Bolnisi and Tetritskaro municipalities as examples of what the country was now ‘reaping’ after disregarding their instructions. Paata Imnadze said that Georgia’s urban population had ‘closely followed’ their recommendations while those living in rural areas ‘found it difficult to take it seriously’. 

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