Today, unfortunately, we have three new cases of coronavirus: Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has written on his Facebook page that two more cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded in Armenia.

“Today, unfortunately, we have three new cases of coronavirus. Two individuals are Armenian citizens (45 and 27 years old), and one is from Italy (51 years old) who works in Armenia. All three have arrived from Italy. The scope of their contacts is being clarified for isolation purposes, which, according to initial data, is not extensive. The Italian citizen and one of the Armenian citizens have no complaints. One of the Armenian citizens has pneumonia. The patients were registered upon arrival.

Anticipating criticism about why we did not decide to stop flights from Italy, I will say that we discussed this possibility several times and reached the obvious conclusion that potential carriers could come to Armenia from Italy's neighboring countries, such as France and Austria, since restrictions have not been imposed within the EU. Therefore, we would have to close off other European directions as well, especially since the coronavirus is spreading in other European countries as well.

Currently, airlines have decided to stop flights from Italy themselves. I would like to note that the residents of 'Golden Palace' and the first diagnosed patient are doing well and have no complaints. Dear compatriots, I urge you to remain calm and follow the health ministry’s recommendations regarding coronavirus prevention measures,” the Prime Minister wrote.