Citizens Returning from Italy to Undergo 14-Day Quarantine: Government

On March 12, a meeting was held at the government of Armenia under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan to coordinate efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Republic of Armenia. This was reported by the press service of the Armenian government.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated, “Hello, dear colleagues, we have gathered once again for our meeting on the prevention of coronavirus, and you all know that we have several new cases reported yesterday. Additionally, 57 individuals who had direct contact with the virus carriers have been isolated. They will also be kept under quarantine conditions for the next 14 days.”

“We have another flight on Sunday, organized by the Armenian government in collaboration with 'Armenia International Airports' and one of the Armenian carriers. I believe we should also discuss what measures will be necessary for those individuals returning to Armenia via that flight and make decisions accordingly. I also think we need to touch upon the implementation of certain accountability measures or better understand how we can ensure the effective isolation of individuals under home isolation. Even the World Health Organization does not recommend isolating all incoming travelers, and it is physically impossible. However, I believe this discussion should take place here today to ensure oversight of those under home isolation, and we should again make decisions in this regard.”

During the meeting, issues related to external and internal measures for the prevention of coronavirus, the economic impact of the infection, and possible scenarios for the development of the situation were discussed. It was decided that citizens returning from Italy to Armenia on Sunday, March 15, will undergo a 14-day quarantine. The Ministry of Health was tasked, together with the Ministry of Justice, to propose options for applying accountability for violators of the home self-isolation regime. The Deputy Prime Minister instructed all state agencies to tighten preventive medical measures further.