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Epidemiological situation in North Ossetia deteriorates

Russia’s chief sanitary doctor, Anna Popova, underlined the rapid deterioration in the epidemiological situation in North Ossetia as the number of patients in the republic increased over the past week by 37 % more than double the previous weekly growth rate of 17 %.

She blamed non-compliance with the regime of self-isolation for the worsening epidemic. 

Despite the growing epidemic, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of North Ossetia Zurab Dzoblayev announced the expansion of the list of enterprises that will be allowed to function during the regime of self-isolation, it now includes 182 enterprises in various spheres, whereas previously it included 58.

Their functioning, he said, is of regional importance and, according to the officials, significantly affects employment and social stability.

Republican Oncology Center in Grozny, Chechnya halts inpatient chemotherapy

In Chechnya, the inpatient chemotherapy department of the Republican Oncology Center in Grozny has been closed due to the quarantine and inpatient chemotherapy has been temporarily suspended.

‘The conduct/postponement of a chemotherapy course for each patient should be individually discussed with the attending chemotherapist on phone,’ the oncology dispensary announced on it’s Instagram page.

If it is impossible to postpone the course, patients will be treated in outpatient care.

Admission for chemotherapy or in the palliative department is possible only for patients who have a form provided by their local doctor that attests to the fact that the patient resides in a safe epidemiological environment. 

Only patients who have tested negative for COVID-19 test are admitted to the surgical department.

Six departments of City Hospital of Nevinnomyssk in Stavropol Krai go into quarantine

Six departments in the City Hospital of Nevinnomyssk in Stavropol Krai have been quarantined. There are 269 people in quarantine, including 100 doctors and medical personnel, the mayor Nevinnomyssk said on Tuesday.

Priority testing for journalists to begin in Georgia

As they are considered a risk group, journalists in Georgia will soon be able to get tested for COVID-19. The decision was announced on Wednesday by Levan Gopodze, the director of the Central Republican Hospital.

‘Today we start testing journalists via quick tests and if needed PCR testing will follow’, he said.

Azerbaijan prolongs borders closure until 31 May

In Azerbaijan, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers has announced that entry-exit restrictions on state borders have been extended until 31 May.

Georgia has more daily recoveries than new infections

For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia has had more daily recoveries than infections, the director of the Clinic of Infectious Disease Marina Ezugbaia announced today. 

‘We have six new cases of infection and 12 recovered. This is the first time there’s such a big difference between recoveries and confirmed cases’, said Ezugbaia. 

As of 29 April, 517 patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 168 of them have recovered. Six have died.

Georgia receives 60,000 tests from China

The Georgian government has bought 40,000 PCR tests from China, alongside a gift 20,000 antigen tests Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze announced on Wednesday.

Musa Shanibov is the second victim of COVID-19 in Kabardino-Balkaria

Musa Shanibov, the first president of the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, a military and political organisation that was a major ally of the Abkhaz side in the 1992–1993 war in Abkhazia, has died of complications from COVID-19. He was 83 years old.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Wednesday, 29 April. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

The number of cases continued to surge in Daghestan, with over 1,000 active cases confirmed. The number of new cases yesterday was the fourth highest in Russia, behind Moscow, Moscow Oblast, and Saint Petersburg.

Georgia announced plans to manage the infection in a way that ‘the economy won’t be damaged any further’. Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said the authorities ‘no longer expect to have a peak in April and May, instead, we have reached a plateau’.

Abkhazia reported that the last active patient had been discharged from Gudauta Hospital meaning there were no active infections remaining.

A second coronavirus patient has died in Kabardino-Balkaria — an 83-year-old man with a cardiovascular disease.

Read the latest stories:

• 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
• Several churches defy Georgian Patriarchate and close churches to the public
• Georgian social workers forced to pay for taxis to visit domestic abuse victims
• Azerbaijan arrests journalists for ‘violating quarantine’
• Analysis | Georgia follows the Japan trajectory, for now