First Meeting of the State of Emergency Committee Held

On March 17, the first meeting of the State of Emergency Committee was held under the leadership of Armenia's Minister of Emergency Situations, Tigran Avinyan.

Tigran Avinyan stated, "We have a few important issues on the agenda, particularly the first pertains to purely procedural matters. I would like to ask that we have a slightly more flexible approach regarding all bureaucratic procedures. I see that there are certain issues present, and even in a state of emergency, we encounter delays in formalizing decision-making. I would like to ask that our lawyers propose a more specific and flexible system through which we will move forward because sometimes it seems to me that we have less flexibility during the state of emergency than we did before. Please keep this issue in mind."

I will definitely pass the floor to Mr. Torosyan to present the general situation and what news we have. We will also discuss several other important issues related to the restrictions on public events across the Republic and how to implement oversight of these measures. I spoke with Mr. Sargsyan last night, and we have an agreement on what needs to be done. I believe that all restrictive measures should be accompanied by clear methodological guidelines so that each official responsible for fulfilling their duties knows what to do and the order of steps they need to take, and all of this must be very clear.

We will discuss the launch of a unified hotline. Again, we will have all the potential questions and answers that can be directed to the hotline, and clear answers must be provided to these questions. We have financial matters to discuss, as well as issues related to communication channels and restrictions concerning the media.

Subsequently, the Minister of Health presented the situation in the Republic concerning the fight against the spread of coronavirus. In addition to the measures taken by the Committee, the participants of the meeting emphasized the role of civil awareness and vigilance, as well as additional safety measures.

During the meeting, the Committee's decision regarding restrictions on public events was discussed. The role of the police in overseeing the prohibition regime of public events was emphasized. Corresponding methodological guidelines were provided for oversight measures. The role of regional governors and the Mayor of Yerevan was highlighted in coordinating oversight operations involving various departments in the regions and the city.

The meeting participants discussed socio-economic necessary measures to activate the economy and alleviate the impact of coronavirus on different social groups. Issues concerning communication and visa regimes with several countries were also addressed.