The latest stories:

• Opinion | The conflict between Church and state during a pandemic endangers us all
• In pictures | Tbilisi’s first night under curfew
• Georgia introduces curfew
• Analysis | Air pollution in Tbilisi nearly halved by COVID-19 measures
• Azerbaijani students ‘beaten’ after complaining about quarantine conditions
• South Ossetia goes into quarantine
• Abkhazia to enter state of emergency from Saturday
• In pictures | Tbilisi in a state of emergency
• Azerbaijan arrests opposition activists during Covid-19 outbreak
• Azerbaijan declares ‘special quarantine regime’
• Georgia declares state of emergency

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That’s it for today, join us again tomorrow for more Coronavirus live updates.

Chechen medical workers will be paid a month earlier

The Chechen authorities have decided to pay April wages to the health workers of the republic a month early.

‘Payments will start on Tuesday next week’, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, wrote on his Vkontakte page, adding that other categories of public sector workers in Chechnya will also be paid ahead of schedule.

Russian government allocates $4.5 million for healthcare in the North Caucasus

The regions of the North Caucasus Federal District will receive ₽348.5 million ($4.5 million) from the central government to help fund healthcare, and especially healthcare workers, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dagestan will receive roughly ₽101 million ($1.3 million); Stavropol Krai, ₽104 million ($1.35 million); Chechnya, ₽55 million ($700,000); Kabardino-Balkaria, ₽29 million ($380,000); North Ossetia, ₽26.4 million ($340,000); and Ingushetia, ₽16.9 million ($220,000), Regnum reports.

Karachay-Cherkessia, where not a single case of COVID-19 has yet been confirmed, will receive ₽16 million ($208,000).

Armenia’s parliament donates computers to large families in Gegharkunik province

Armenia’s National Assembly will donate 42 computers from the parliament’s reserve fund to 36 elementary schools in the Gegharkunik province. 

The school will distribute the computers to those families with four or more children that do not have access to computers so the children can take part in the online distance learning programmes launched throughout the country.

According to the Gegharkunik Regional Administration, there are 113 families in the region with four or more children that don’t have access to online learning.

Public church services put on hold in Krasnodar Krai 

The head of the Kuban Metropolitanate, Metropolitan Isidor of Yekaterinodar and Kuban, has announced the suspension of public services beginning on 5 April ‘in order to protect parishioners’ from administrative and criminal punishment.

The Divine Liturgy will be held behind closed doors in the presence of the required number of clergy. The services are to be broadcast on television by major churches.

All those who wish to take Communion will be provided with such an opportunity but so long as it is for ‘not more than for two people at the same time’ and everything is in compliance with ‘all necessary sanitary and hygienic requirements’.

The sacraments of Baptism and Unification, except in emergency cases, are postponed until further notice.

Armenia’s Shirak province to receive masks from China

China’s Hainan province has sent 10 thousand medical masks to Armenia’s Shirak province. The masks will be distributed to all medical centers in the region.

Yerevan public buses to transport medical personnel

Starting from today, 40 public buses will transport all medical personnel, roughly 650 people, to and from 30 Yerevan medical centres.

This comes after the State Commission on the State of Emergency banned all public transport throughout the country on 1 April.

Azerbaijan to fine those violating quarantine regime

Anar Gasimli,  a member of Bar Association, told Trend on Friday that people who violate the new measures of the special quarantine regime and leave their houses without notifying authorities will be fined ₼100-₼200 ($60-$120), and will face up to one month of administrative arrest.

On Thursday, Aziz Bagishov, the Deputy Head of the Main Public Security Department at the Interior Ministry, told public broadcaster Ictimai TV that from 5 April police will use electronic devices to monitor the movement of every citizen in Azerbaijan. 

According to him, before leaving their houses, people should call or SMS a government hotline and state their reason for leaving.

He said that this information would be sent to each police officer, and when stopping a person in the street, police officers would use an electronic tablet to check if the person was authorised to leave their home.

Georgian Minister says attending Easter sermon is breaking curfew

Four Georgian Ministers said today that they will not be attending Easter sermons in person, but will instead watch them on television.

Easter sermons take place the evening before Sunday (19 April) and continue through the night. 

Earlier today, Shalva Kekelia, head of one of the churches in Tbilisi, said it was possible for the churchgoers to show up for the Easter sermon at 21:00 and leave the church at 06:00 without breaking curfew, as they would be inside the church for the curfew’s duration.

Maia Tskitishvili, the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, has shot down the claim.  

'The rules of the curfew are quite clear and movement is restricted from 21:00 to 06:00. At the same time it is not allowed for more than three people to gather,’ she said. ‘Of course the curfew will be violated if we have a mass gathering in a church.’

Minvody Airport cancels a series of flights

The press centre of the Minvody International Airport, the main airport of the North Caucasus Federal District, announced the cancellation of a number of flights, some of them for the period from April 1 to April 26.

Among them are flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Cherepovets, Yekaterinburg and Larnaca.

17 new cases of COVID-19 in Krasnodar Krai 

Seventeen new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Krasnodar Krai over the past 24 hours, Kommersant reports citing Rospotrebnadzor. A total of 39 cases have been identified in Krasnodar Krai.

Among the new patients, there are residents of the cities of Krasnodar, Kurganinsk, Labinsk, Slavyansk-on-Kuban, and Novorossiysk. One person is currently in serious condition.

People carry on praying in some Daghestani mosques

Despite a statement made by the Mufti of Daghestan, Ahmad Abdullayev, on 1 April in which he stated that it was necessary to suspend prayer at mosques, Friday prayers have taken place at several mosques in Makhachkala today. However, local residents have told OC Media that there were few worshippers.

First case of novel coronavirus infection confirmed in Ingushetia

A patient hospitalised on 29 March in the Nazran District Clinic in Ingushetia has tested positive for COVID-19 infection, Russian authorities have reported. 

According to local medical authorities, the patient was among those who had recently returned to the republic from Moscow.

The latest news makes Karachai-Cherkessia the only Russian federal subject in the North Caucasus region that has not confirmed any cases of COVID-19 infection.

Georgian Orthodox Church remains defiant of state of emergency

The Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church instructed parish priests today to start prayers from tomorrow at 16:00 and to close churches by 20:00. 

The Georgian government introduced a nationwide curfew from 31 March, prohibiting anyone from being outside of their homes between 21:00 and 06:00 and banning gatherings of more than 3 people except in food shops, pharmacies, and banks. 

Earlier, despite public outcry over risks of coronavirus infection transmission, the Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, instructed believers to keep at a distance from each other and in most cases, to stand outside during services but made it clear that ‘churches will not close’. 

The Church also refused to stop using a shared spoon to offer wine to believers during Holy Communion and announced no changes in their plans to mark Easter on 19 April.

Karachay-Cherkessia supplies 50 tonnes of sugar to Ingushetia

At the initiative of the head of Karachay-Cherkessia, Rashid Temrezov, Ingushetia will receive two trucks with 50 tonnes of sugar. The sugar is intended for distribution to ‘poor families’, the newspaper Ingushetia reports. 

The head of Ingushetia, Mahmud-Ali Kalimatov, thanked his colleague for his help during the pandemic.

According to current data, no cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in either Karachay-Cherkessia or Ingushetia.

 

Curfew imposed in Chechnya

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has announced a curfew in the republic. From 3 April, residents are not allowed to go outside of the home between 20:00 and 08:00.

Armenia registers two more deaths and ten more recoveries

Last night, Armenia registered two more deaths from the novel coronavirus:  a 76-year-old and a 78-year-old. Both had pre-existing health conditions including diabetes and hypertension. The latter was not a citizen of Armenia. The total number of deaths in the country has risen to seven. 

This morning the Armenian Health Ministry also confirmed that ten more patients had recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 43.

To date, Armenia has registered 663 cases of the virus with the largest spike in numbers registered yesterday, as 92 cases were confirmed within 24 hours.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Friday, 3 April. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

One-hundred-and-forty Azerbaijani citizens are stranded in the southern Magaramkent District of Daghestan due to the border closure because of the coronavirus. 

‘Old people and children were assigned to a hotel; the rest in a mosque for the night’, Alibek Aliyev, the deputy head of the anti-corruption Department of Daghestan told OC Media. 

The authorities in Azerbaijan announced that there were confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all regions of the country. The authorities also said they would begin issuing passes in order for people to be allowed to leave their homes.

Azerbaijan also announced that people would have to inform the authorities by phone or SMS each time they wished to leave their home.

Armenia confirmed 92 more cases, bringing the total to 633.

In Georgia, officials and MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream Party pledged to donate a third of their salaries for the next three months to a fund to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

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Read more from yesterday as well as the latest stories:

• Opinion | The conflict between Church and state during a pandemic endangers us all
• In pictures | Tbilisi’s first night under curfew
• Georgia introduces curfew
• Analysis | Air pollution in Tbilisi nearly halved by COVID-19 measures
• Azerbaijani students ‘beaten’ after complaining about quarantine conditions
• South Ossetia goes into quarantine
• Abkhazia to enter state of emergency from Saturday
• In pictures | Tbilisi in a state of emergency
• Azerbaijan arrests opposition activists during Covid-19 outbreak
• Azerbaijan declares ‘special quarantine regime’
• Georgia quarantines Marneuli and Bolnisi