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In Adygea, mobile laboratories will start testing for COVID-19.

In the near future, mobile laboratories that will be able to deliver COVID-19 tests will begin to operate in Adygea’s settlements of Enem and Yablonovsky. 

Particular attention will be paid to testing medical workers and those who work in neighbouring Krasnodar Krai, the Health Ministry of Adygea has reported on its Instagram page.

So far, more than 22 thousand COVID-19 tests have been carried out, with more than 1000 people being tested per day.

Public service centres will reopen in Krasnodar Krai 

Starting tomorrow, in the Krasnodar Krai, regional Multifunctional centres for the provision of public services (MFC) will reopen. These centres provide passports, ID documents, registration of property, among many other essential services. 

They will work from 10:00-16:00 only by appointment in advance. Appointment can be scheduled by calling 8 (800) 30-23-444 or via the united portal MFC of Krasnodar Krai.

At the centres, visitors must keep a distance of 1.5 meters from each other and wear masks.

Quarantine in the Krasnodar Krai extended until 23 May

The governor of Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratiev, has extended the region’s quarantine until 23 May.

‘I would not want to reset everything that we have done in 1.5 months [of self-isolation] back to zero. We must rely on the opinions of doctors’, the governor said.

Nafiset Tkhakushinova, a leading infectious diseases specialist in the region, has said that an asymptomatic form of the disease is very prevalent in Krasnodar Krai.

New beds for COVID-19 patients in North Ossetia

In North Ossetia – Alania, authorities are planning to deploy an additional 200 beds in the Republican Clinical Hospital as well as open a resuscitation center with 50 beds for COVID-19 patients. Delivery of 26 mechanical ventilation devices to the republic is expected shortly.

Meanwhile, from tomorrow, wearing masks in public places will become mandatory in the republic.

Kabardino-Balkaria receives humanitarian aid from Kadyrov charity

In Kabardino-Balkaria 3000 families received food aid packages from the Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov Foundation, headed by the mother of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, Aymani Kadyrova.

Chechen media note that the charity event is timed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe and the 16th anniversary of the death of Ramzan Kadyrov’s father Akhmat-Hadzhi Kadyrov in 2004.

Nagorno-Karabakh extends Emergency Situation

Nagorno-Karabakh’s outgoing president, Bako Sahakyan, has signed a decree today extending the Emergency Situation which has been in place in the country since 12 April and was set to expire on 12 May.

The Emergency Situation is now set to end on 11 June.

To date, Nagorno-Karabakh has 10 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, eight recoveries patients and zero deaths. There are 15 citizens in mandatory quarantine and 359 COVID-19 tests have been carried out so far.

 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.

Medical staff in Kabardino-Balkaria not fully paid promised bonuses

The Health Ministry of Kabardino-Balkaria has responded to complaints from medical workers treating patients with COVID-19 about underpayment of the bonuses promised to them and conducted an audit at the Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases (Hospital No. 1), where 10% of patients with COVID-19 in the republic are admitted.

‘Preliminary analysis of the payments showed that the payments were not made in full,’ the Ministry of Health wrote in a statement published on Instagram.

Gali residents ‘deprived of quality medical care’

The residents of Abkhazia’s Gali district are being ‘deprived of quality medical care’ and access to vital services, Democracy Research Institute (DRI), a Georgia based think tank, reports. 

According to DRI, the hospital of the village of Saberio in the Gali district has almost run out of their supply of medicines as the closure of checkpoints and broader restrictions on freedom of movement, have made it impossible to transport the medicines from Georgia-controlled territory.

DRI also reports that the hospital lacks important medical equipment including ultrasound and x-ray machines and that due to ambulance ‘malfunction’ paramedics are often delayed, sometimes with fatal consequences. 

 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.

Ban on entering and exiting Tbilisi lifted

As of today, a number of restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia have been lifted, including the ban on entering and exiting the capital city of Tbilisi. 

The ban on manufacturing has also been lifted, and factories will be re-opening. Retail stores that have an entrance directly to the street have also been allowed to re-open, with the exception of garment and shoe stores. 

Outdoor recreational zones such as parks are once again open to the public.

Summary

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

The biggest developments from yesterday:

As of yesterday, 64 out of 90 agricultural markets in Georgia have been reopened, the country’s National Food Agency announced. The agency said that most of the markets currently inactive are seasonal and will restart when due. 

Armenia’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country is doubling every 15 days. Torosyan shared a graph on Facebook which indicates that Armenia’s coronavirus numbers doubled from 1,596 on 23 April, to 3,175 on 8 May. Based on this dynamic, by 24 May, Armenia may have as many as 6,350 confirmed cases, and 12,700 confirmed cases by 8 June.

Daghestan's Emergency Situations Ministry announced today that they were setting up tents to temporarily shelter Azerbaijani nationals stranded in the southern Magaramkent District of Daghestan due to border closure. The Emergency Ministry vowed to finish the camp on the border of Magaramkentski and Derbentski districts by 12 May. They said it would include tents to live in, a field kitchen, and a medical unit for 210 Azerbaijanis.

Read the latest stories:

• Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh ‘vulnerable to COVID-19 pandemic’
• Georgia plans corona-safe ‘tourist zones’
• South Ossetia confirms first three coronavirus cases
• Protests in Azerbaijan over job losses and unpaid leave
• Critical shortages‘ of protective equipment reported in Daghestan’s hospitals
• Transgender woman sets herself on fire in Tbilisi
• Amnesty International questions Caucasus governments’ response to pandemic
• Georgian opposition demand answers after former official ‘breaches driving ban’
• Voice | The women on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Azerbaijan opposition party claims nearly a dozen members arrested in last two weeks
• Farmers in Georgia’s Marneuli protest inability to sell crops 
• Police clash with anti-stay-at-home protesters in North Ossetia 
• In pictures | Life under quarantine in Gyumri
• Georgian social workers forced to pay for taxis to visit domestic abuse victims