I Feel Guilty for Distributing Flyers in the Early Days of the Pandemic, Says Anna Hakobyan

This isolation has forced people to reassess values and appreciate human relationships. There is an old saying – a person is a person through other people. This was stated by Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia, during a live interview on 1in.am.

“As for people's behavior, will they return to their previous ways or not, yes, I believe they will return. People will have to reassess their values. I was following on Instagram how some celebrities, locked in their mansions, didn’t know what to do out of boredom. Their only comfort was finding solace on Instagram, posting videos… It does not matter whether you own a yacht or other luxuries; during these days, you cannot use them. But if you have a friend with whom you can exchange thoughts,” Anna Hakobyan noted during the interview.

In the fight against the spread of the pandemic, according to Anna Hakobyan, the executive has done its utmost and continues to do so. “There may have been tactical mistakes, but nobody is insured against mistakes. I have a high sense of responsibility and I feel guilty for distributing flyers in the early days of the pandemic without wearing a mask and gloves. If I had done that, I would have sent a better message. But I followed the instructions of the Ministry of Health and the Commandant’s Office. There may have been mistakes, but everything is being done to protect the people. I want the noise around the figures to quiet down a bit; each nation has its peculiarities. There are nations with thousands of years of history that are not afraid of anything. In other countries, we see that people are very afraid for their personal safety. This comes from our nature – the virus will not touch us, it will not reach our country; this kind of reasoning is often heard. That’s not good, of course, but it is not right to turn it into a tragedy and an object of exploitation. We are not talking about numbers; we are talking about people, families. My daughter has an acquaintance whose entire family has been infected and is in different places, and people are having a hard time coping with that separation. We are used to judging by numbers, but we are speaking about individuals,” emphasized the Prime Minister's wife.

In response to criticisms that people are being blamed for the situation or that the widespread virus is due to low awareness, Anna Hakobyan stated that the misunderstanding is due to social media. According to her, people consider Facebook as a source of information.