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Abkhazia: Border with Russia likely to remain closed

Chairing the anti-coronavirus task force today, Abkhazian Prime Minister Aleksandr Ankvab underlined that the border with Russian needed to remain closed after 15 June. 

In four days, measures against the coronavirus outbreak, including the ongoing closure of borders, expire, which requires the government to decide whether to extend the measures or to lift them, in part or in whole. 

According to local media, Ankvab has signalled his intention to relax some measures against economic activities but to keep the border closed.

According to Abkhazian authorities, as of today, 27 out of 36 patients infected with COVID-19 have already recovered.

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Pashinyan: ‘political coronavirus’ spreading in the country

On Wednesday, after facing calls for resignation from the country’s largest opposition party, Prosperous Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attacked his critics as a ‘political coronavirus’.

‘This [political virus] will only lead to the end of those political powers that contracted this ‘bacteria,’ he said.

Pashinyan also insisted that Armenia had registered better results in fighting against the virus than some more developed countries that have more advanced infrastructure and resources. ‘However, unlike Armenia, this ‘political bacteria’ has not spread in those countries,’ Pashinyan stated. ‘Some political forces [in Armenia] are digging their own political graves and will be pushed out of Armenia’s political life.’

With nearly 15,000 confirmed cases, Armenia’s outbreak of COVID-19 has been the worst in the South Caucasus.

Karachay-Cherkessia’s top clinician contradicts official COVID-19 fatality numbers

The top clinician in Karachay-Cherkessia has contradicted the official number of coronavirus fatalities in the region, even after officials admitted earlier that 100 had died from the virus instead of the officially recorded nine. 

In an Instagram-hosted live interview with Daghestani vlogger Ruslan Kurbanov, Leyla Batchayeva, Head of the Infectious Diseases Department of Central Republican Hospital of Karachay-Cherkessia, claimed that there were ‘about 200’ fatalities occurred while hospitals were overwhelmed. 

She noted that weddings and funerals were the main vectors for the outbreak and that a lack of information was to blame.

‘People failed to understand the full extent of the situation, but they failed because… no one warned them about oncoming danger… people, who were told that there were no casualties, didn’t believe [what was really happening] until it was too late’, Batchayeva said.

Karachay-Cherkessia authorities reported the first two deaths from COVID-19 on 25 April and confirmed only 7 more fatalities during the next six weeks.

In recent days, small groups of local residents have publicly protested the epidemiological situation in Karachay-Cherkessia and have accused the Health Ministry of downplaying the real number of deaths. 

The local government announced yesterday that a new 110-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients in the Ust-Dzhegutinsky District was to open soon.

 

Daghestan receives doctors from Moscow 

A team of doctors arrived yesterday in Daghestan to help local specialists fight the coronavirus outbreak. The group is led by Denis Protsenko, Chief Doctor of Moscow's Kommunarka hospital, the main medical centre treating COVID-19 patients.

According to the local government, the team includes infectious disease specialists, a radiologist, a therapist and an anaesthetist.

In total, 40 doctors in separate teams are planning to visit Russia’s most severely affected regions, including North Ossetia and Ingushetia. 

Armenian Health Minister apologises for mistakes in COVID-19 response 

Armenia’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan went live Wednesday evening to talk about the mistakes the Ministry and government have made in the country’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.

‘It is due to this uncertainty that we have failed in certain issues, made decisions too late, and, whether we wanted to or not, made certain mistakes,’ said Torosyan. ‘This situation has made us look back and evaluate the situation at hand. I apologise.’

Torosyan went on to thank those who were critical of the government as they helped them see where they may have faltered. 

‘Up until now, every time we’ve made announcements, we never lied and still don’t. We’re not hiding anything,’ Torosyan claimed. ‘I believe, this is our strong side. There will always be honesty and sincerity. I’m ready to talk about decisions that need to be changed and will explain why they are being changed.’

‘Let’s not go too wild!’: Georgian officials raise alarm after new untraced cases

Today, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia called it ‘extremely alarming’ that they cannot trace the source of four out of six newly confirmed COVID-19 infections in the country. 

Gakharia said that three of the untraced cases were confirmed in Tbilisi. 

'No one should have an illusion that the virus is defeated. This [confirmation of new untraced cases] is a very good example of what can happen', Gakharia warned today. 

After allowing cafes and restaurants to reopen, Georgian medical authorities criticised what they called a lack of face masks and social distancing at popular social establishments in Tbilisi. 

'Can't we enjoy what we have achieved during this first wave [of the outbreak]?’ Tengiz Tsertsavadze, Director of Tbilisi's Infectious Diseases Hospital, urged the public on Wednesday. ‘Let's retain some of the restrictions based on our awareness and not go too wild!'

A new bill introducing fines for not wearing protective face masks in public buildings and on public transport passed its first reading yesterday. 

Georgia to help Armenia with medical staff 

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia confirmed today that they will soon help Armenia with medical personnel. 

Gakharia stated this morning that he is in ‘daily contact’ with his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan and that they had identified medical staff as the most needed aid for the moment.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Thursday, 11 June. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry announced today that they will be sending a team of doctors to Armenia to help in the country’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.

In late April, Lithuania pledged to allocate €100,000 ($113,000) to Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine as humanitarian assistance. On 14 May, the Lithuanian government also sent 10,600 protective face shields to Armenia.

Nineteen employees of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration have tested positive for COVID-19, Ramin Bayramli,  the chair of the Management Union of Medical Territorial Units, has announced. 

He added that five employees of the Ministry of Emergency situations had also been infected along with several cases in the Ministry of Labour. 

South Ossetia’s President Anatoly Bibilov has begun working remotely from his residence in Java (Dzau) on the eve of his trip to Moscow, according to his office. 

Bibilov plans to attend a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II, which has been rescheduled to 24 June. According to his office, he will self-isolate for 12 days upon returning to South Ossetia.

South Ossetia also plans to hold their own Victory Day parade on the same day in Tskhinvali (Tskhinval). 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

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