Violations in Yerevan Kindergartens: Food Safety Inspectorate

From May 21 to 26, 2020, specialists and inspectors from the Food Safety Inspectorate conducted ongoing monitoring in 55 preschool educational institutions in Yerevan to ensure compliance with safety regulations established by the Armenian government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Food Safety Inspectorate, violations were found in 14 kindergartens during the monitoring. The nature of these violations included the following: not all staff members were wearing gloves and masks, there were either missing or incomplete thermometer readings for children and staff, the established social distancing was not maintained during nap times, records of disinfection were absent, labeled waste bins for masks and gloves were missing in kitchens and restrooms, and in one kindergarten, the validity of most staff sanitary records had expired.

On May 26-27, the Education Inspectorate also carried out oversight in 42 kindergartens in Yerevan. In those kindergartens, group activities planned as part of preschool education programs were temporarily canceled or postponed. Contact between children was minimized during games and classes, and explanatory courses on measures to prevent coronavirus were implemented in senior groups. Based on the request of the director of one kindergarten in the Avan administrative district, it was decided to suspend the operation of the preschool institution due to children not attending.

Summary information on the violations is submitted to the emergency response headquarters. The oversight process is ongoing.