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Georgian Health Ministry: 10 cases identified with mobile tracking app

The Georgian Health Ministry announced today that their mobile tracking application Stop COVID helped them to identify 10 cases of infection, the latest being on 7 June. 

The iOS and Android application, which launched on 16 April, requires GPS and Bluetooth services to be enabled in order to notify people if they have spent longer than 15 minutes closer than 2 metres to an individual who later tested positive for coronavirus.

Those testing positive for the virus had to proactively, but anonymously, share this with the application in order to inform others who may have come into contact with them.

According to the ministry, 203,684 people have downloaded the app since its launch. 

According to them, the app cost ₾410,000 ($135,000) to develop, which was covered by the World Bank’s Emergency Response to COVID-19 aid.

Azerbaijan surpasses 10,000 cases

Azerbaijan’s Operational Headquarters confirmed 367 new infections on Monday evening, bringing the total number to 10,325 cases. 

According to the government’s online coronavirus portal, the capital Baku is the most severely hit area in the country, with 50% of cases. 

Also on Monday, the Norwegian Human Rights House Foundation accused the Azerbaijani authorities of continuing to clamp down on critics under the ‘guise of protecting public health’. 

A total lockdown in four cities of Azerbaijan earlier this month was marked by police violence and a public backlash at its implementation.

Georgia: no new cases within the last 24 hours

Georgian authorities reported today that since yesterday morning, there have been no new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. 

Currently, there are 141 active cases in the country (16% of the total infected), with an additional 2,710 in quarantine and 267 in hospitals.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Tuesday, 16 June. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

The authorities in Georgia lifted the lockdown on the village of Geta, in the country’s southern Bolnisi Municipality, after quarantining it 31 days ago. This left the nearby village of Mushevani as the only settlement still under strict quarantine in Georgia.

The authorities in Karachay-Cherkessia launched a probe into two online news platforms for allegedly disseminating fake news about COVID-19 in the republic. Both have published allegations that the local authorities have been hiding the true number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the republic.

Meanwhile, the Operational Headquarters of Karachay-Cherkessia to combat coronavirus decided to extend restrictive measures and the stay-at-home order in the republic until 22 June.

Abkhazia relaxed some of its anti-coronavirus measures, allowing public events (including weddings) to be held. Daily agricultural markets, gyms, spas, saunas, and massage parlours have also been allowed to reopen. 

Read the latest stories:

• Colony 13: Coronavirus in an Azerbaijani prison
• Azerbaijan’s total lockdown weekend marked by police violence 
• Pashinyan fires top security officials after wedding party
• Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and family test positive for COVID-19
• Armenian COVID-19 ‘fake news’ site was funded by US
• ‘A lost year’ — How the global pandemic has hit Azerbaijan’s economy
• Armenia continues to reopen despite steady growth in new cases of COVID-19
• Chechens ‘beaten and detained’ by security forces for leaving home on Eid al-Fitr
• WHO recommendations ‘widely disregarded’ in South Ossetia’s Akhalgori
• Man disappears in Grozny after returning to be with family during pandemic
• Georgian Health Ministry cancels contract for ‘Dutch-made’ tests that were made in China
• Georgia plans corona-safe ‘tourist zones’
• Critical shortages‘ of protective equipment reported in Daghestan’s hospitals
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