10 Healthcare Workers Infected with Coronavirus, 41 in Quarantine: Yerevan Municipality

The state of emergency declared to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus has accelerated the pace and schedule of all healthcare institution operations under the Yerevan Municipality.

In the frontline are equipped and ready ambulance teams. "The service always operates in emergency mode, especially during these days. With caution, but we are always ready to serve all our citizens. During this time, 1299 citizens have been transported to the Nork Infectious Disease Hospital by the ambulance service," says the Director of Ambulance LLC, Taghuhy Stepanyan.

The polyclinics in Yerevan have been working under heavy load since February, with services even available on weekends. The X-ray offices are also operational. At polyclinics, body temperature is measured immediately upon entry, and citizens with symptoms specific to coronavirus are escorted to isolation.

“We had two groups: citizens arriving from abroad and citizens who had contact with confirmed carriers. In both cases, we have imposed a 14-day monitoring period,” says the director of Polyclinic No. 13, Ruzanna Durgaryan.

On the first day, doctors make house visits, then contact citizens daily by phone to inquire about their health status and record temperature measurements. To date, home monitoring has been conducted on 2597 citizens. Of these, 1497 have been released from monitoring, while 1100 remain under supervision.

“During the specified period, 125 monitored citizens have been referred to the Nork Infectious Disease Hospital, of which 65 tested positive for the virus, and the disease has been confirmed,” says the Deputy Head of the Health Department, Gayane Antonyan.

To ensure the safety of healthcare personnel, the Yerevan Municipality has procured and provided necessary protective equipment to healthcare institutions. “As part of the coronavirus prevention program, the Yerevan Municipality has purchased 50,000 medical masks, 17,000 medical gowns, 45,000 medical gloves, and disinfectants for community-owned health facilities. The issue of transporting healthcare workers has also been solved, and buses have been provided for this purpose,” says the head of the Health Department of Yerevan Municipality, Kamsar Babinyan.

Despite the caution shown by healthcare workers, 10 more have contracted the coronavirus while fulfilling their professional duties, with 41 in quarantine. However, the risk of infection does not deter other employees of community-based healthcare facilities from continuing their mission.

32 healthcare workers have responded to the call of the Ministry of Health and joined the efforts of hospitals engaged in overcoming the pandemic.

By decision of the Mayor of Yerevan, more than 1800 community healthcare workers fighting the virus will be rewarded during these days; for this purpose, all municipal and administrative staff have allocated over 130 million drams from their March salaries. Each of us can also join this fight in our own way by staying home and preventing the spread of the virus.