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Twenty-two test positive in Stavropol Krai residential psychiatric facility

Twenty-two employees and patients of a residential psychiatric facility in the Novoselitsky District of Stavropol Krai have tested positive for COVID-19, Regnum reports.

Twelve people have been hospitalised and all residents have been placed under constant medical supervision, Regnum cited the local authorities as saying.

Following the incident, all social residential institutions in the region, which house almost 4,500 elderly people and people with disabilities, have reportedly been completely isolated.

South Ossetia confirms two more cases

South Ossetia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Anna Gagloyeva, has confirmed two more cases of coronavirus in South Ossetia; the first case was announced earlier today.

The latest cases, according to her, are a woman and her 6-year-old son who travelled to North Ossetia ‘for other medical conditions’ and tested positive upon their return to South Ossetia’s southern Akhalgori (Leningor) District yesterday. Gagloyeva said they are asymptomatic and have been quarantined.

She also told news agency RES that the first confirmed case was a 14-year-old boy who was a student at the North Caucasus Suvorovskoe Military School in Vladikavkaz.

Read the full story: South Ossetia confirms first three coronavirus cases.

 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.

Protests in Azerbaijan over job losses and unpaid leave

Despite the quarantine regime, dozens of workers in Azerbaijan protested over the last week against job losses and mandatory unpaid leave.

Read the full story: Protests in Azerbaijan over job losses and unpaid leave.

Armenia increases bed capacity and quarantine locations

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that the government has increased the bed capacity for infected patients from 300 to 1,500. An additional 150 beds will be allocated in the next few days, he said.

According to Pashinyan, 6,000 people have been quarantined in hotels to date. As of 27 April, 35 hotels had been designated for asymptomatic infected patients.

An additional 600 hotels will be allocated soon to ‘hospitalise’ future asymptomatic cases in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Armenian PM reports number of beneficiaries of government assistance

During a parliamentary session, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that, to date, over 24,000 businesses and 360,000 individuals have received assistance through the government’s assistance packages.

Over 1 million households have received assistance paying utility bills amounting to ֏2 billion ($4 million), he said. As of 5 May, Armenian banks and credit organisations have granted loan repayment holidays to 472,000 individuals and 15,000 businesses.

After over two months of efforts to ward off the spread of COVID-19 in the region — first from Georgia-controlled territory and later from Russia  — South Ossetian authorities have confirmed the region’s first case.

Read the full write-up: South Ossetia confirms first coronavirus case.

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Georgian Health Minister videoed in front seat of car

Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has been spotted sitting in the front passenger seat of a car.

The government has banned more than three people travelling in a single car as well as anyone sitting in the front passenger seat.

According to Tikaradze, this does not apply to members of the executive government.

‘It was the kind of moment where it was necessary to transport a maximum number of passengers via the minimal number of cars’, Tikaradze told Rustavi 2.

‘I decided that it was better for me to take the hit [and sit in the front] because I’m the reason for the state of emergency’, she added.

Armenian citizens return from Kazakhstan

The Armenian Embassy in Kazakhstan has announced that 35 citizens were flown to Yerevan today. Four of the passengers are Armenian citizens from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The charter flight was organised by Kazakhstani SCAT Airlines and flew to Tbilisi before arriving in Yerevan.

All 35 citizens will stay in quarantine for 14 days before being allowed to go home.

Since March 2020, 70,000 Armenian citizens have returned to Armenia, 23,000 of which since the State of Emergency was declared on 16 March.

South Ossetia confirms first COVID-19 case

The first coronavirus infection has been confirmed in South Ossetia, according to South Ossetian state-owned news agency RES.

RES said the infected man entered South Ossetia from Russia on 30 April and was in quarantine when he developed a fever, after which he was tested.

‘The man has been isolated in the Infectious Diseases Hospital’, Marina Kochiyeva, Chief Medical Officer of South Ossetia said, adding that everyone who came in contact with him would also be isolated.

 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.

Criminal investigation launched against organiser of Vladikavkaz protest

A criminal investigation has been launched in North Ossetia against Ramis Chirkinov, one of the organisers of a protest in Vladikavkaz on 20 April against lockdown measures.

Chirkinov is being charged with ‘organising hooliganism’; if convicted he faces 5–8 years in prison. His administrative detention term ended yesterday.

Zoos in Stavropol Krai appeal for donations to feed animals

Three zoos in Stavropol Krai have appealed to the public for help to pay for food and medicine for their animals.

According to the Stavropol Zoo administration, these were previously purchased with funds from ticket sales which dropped off after self-isolation rules were introduced.

A similar appeal was made by the Stavropol Zooexotarium and Berendeyevo Zoo in the city of Pyatigorsk.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Wednesday, 6 May. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

Seventy-two medical workers have been infected with COVID-19, Georgia’s Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze confirmed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, according to the General Director of Tbilisi's Infectious Diseases hospital, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, Georgia has witnessed no rise of COVID-19 cases 'connected to religious festivities'. 

Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry, along with the Prosecutor General's Office has stated that seven people were detained after a protest in front of the city’s executive authorities in Bilasuvar, southeastern Azerbaijan, on Monday. Two of the protestors were charged with hooliganism and disobeying the police. Five were charged with petty hooliganism. 

Medical authorities in Daghestan have confirmed an additional 128 cases of COVID-19. There are now over 2000 cases of the virus in the republic. 

Read the latest stories:

• 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