VIDEO: 10 Individuals Already Isolated in a Special Holding Area, More Possible Says Torosyan

Currently, there are 4 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Three of the patients are asymptomatic, although they had a fever upon presentation. This was announced by the Minister of Health, Arsen Torosyan, during a government meeting.

According to Torosyan, only one of them currently has complaints — a right-sided basal pneumonia, is also febrile, and is receiving symptomatic treatment. The other patients are not receiving any treatment.

Regarding the measures taken to identify the infected patients, Torosyan noted that the last three patients arrived from Italy: “They had no complaints upon arrival, but were under the supervision of our specialists. They were hospitalized as complaints arose, both through home visits and telephone communication, and, in fact, the presence of the virus was confirmed in them,” he stated.

According to the Minister, one of the other preventive measures includes the identification and isolation of individuals who have come into contact with these patients. “Already, 10 individuals have been isolated in a special holding area, where we have 31 more individuals, and isolation measures have been implemented in their residential areas, with a considerable number of people isolated this way. It is possible that further isolation will occur in the special holding area during the day,” he said.

He added that other measures are ongoing, including the completion of special cards at the airport and heightened scrutiny of all countries where the number of cases is high — several European countries, as well as China, South Korea, and Japan. Preventive measures are also being implemented across the country.

“Everyone's responsibility is very important in preventing the further spread of infection,” he emphasized. The Deputy Prime Minister, Tigran Avinyan, also informed that there will be a special charter flight from Rome to Yerevan on Sunday, organized by the government, Armenia Airport, and Armenian carriers. He also mentioned that further steps regarding this flight will be discussed in the closed part of the meeting.