Is It True That Things Are Bad with the Coronavirus Pandemic in Armenia? Lapshin

In recent days, friends from Yerevan have been inundating me with links to news sites claiming that Armenia has allegedly surpassed the United States in terms of the number of infections per million inhabitants. It is said that the number of patients is rising, and soon hospitals in Armenia will be insufficient to cope. I always respond to those friends, urging them to stop spreading panic and to remember that the coronavirus is not only a disease but also more about politics. This was stated on Facebook by the well-known blogger Alexander Lapshin.

“When I was studying at an Israeli university, there was a subject called ‘methodology of statistics’ and another called ‘social psychology.’ I assure you that there are not proportionally more patients in Armenia than in neighboring Georgia, Russia, or many European countries. You might ask why everywhere it is stated that Armenia is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of cases per million population. There are three reasons: 1. The more tests that are conducted, the more patients will be identified. Naturally, if fewer tests are conducted, corresponding statistics will appear better because if you do not check people, it seems that everything is fine. As you know, Israel ended up on the ‘green’ list of countries, seemingly capable of controlling the spread of the coronavirus. In this context, the quarantine was even relaxed, and people began to meet, visit cafes and restaurants freely, celebrate weddings and birthdays, and use crowded public transport. But then we replaced the head of the Ministry of Health, and the new minister, Yuli Edelstein, was appointed. The first thing he did was return the testing. And suddenly, just a few days later, a sharp increase in patients was recorded. Fearing a worsening epidemiological situation, the authorities again restricted access to testing; now you simply cannot go and get tested.

By the way, Italy played statistics more cleverly. The Italian Ministry of Health registered the coronavirus after death. Let’s say a person was hit by a car and died. But during the autopsy, it turned out that he had the coronavirus. No one claims that the person hit by the car died of the coronavirus. They formulate it more cleverly, writing: ‘Today, 6000 people died who had the coronavirus.’ It does not matter that 5000 of them were over 80 years old and were in the final stage of cancer, and the coronavirus was not the primary cause of death. But Italy received substantial financial injections and loans from the EU. After that, the number of tests decreased in Italy, and the statistics began to improve rapidly.

2. Armenia, perhaps trying to be at the best level and meet international standards, hastily sought to replicate foreign experience in combating the coronavirus. In neither Georgia, Azerbaijan, nor Turkey is it easy to get tested. No one wants to spoil the statistics of a successful fight against the pandemic. However, in Armenia, it is relatively easy. Not from the street, of course, but generally, if you have a fever and cough, then you will definitely get tested. And if you are ill, it will fall into the official statistics. Thus, Armenia unexpectedly fell into the red zone, although, in reality, there are not more patients in Armenia than in many other countries of the world.

3. Additionally, in many countries, the coronavirus is used for political purposes. Should I comment on what is happening in Armenia? But you understand me. I would rather tell you about Israel. We have a state leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced corruption charges. During strict quarantine, protests and rallies were banned. If my Armenian friends think that this is political chaos and madness in Yerevan, they should know that everything is the same here. The current government and the opposition are merely captivated by the pandemic and the prevailing panic. They are stealing a multimillion-dollar budget, officials raise their salaries while simultaneously raising taxes for the population. But what will happen? We have to fight the pandemic, and this will raise income tax, VAT, excise taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and vehicles.

And finally, what do I want to say? Friends, the coronavirus exists. It is dangerous. But it is not as dangerous as what is devastating the economies of countries around the world. We must follow the rules of the Ministry of Health, which, for the most part, are reasonable. Yes, there are many absurdities, but they are not only in Armenia. However, gradually the world is starting to return to normal. You and I should be concerned not about the coronavirus but about many people being left without jobs, the uncertainty, and the fear. The coronavirus will go away. Partly due to tricks associated with statistics, and partly due to collective immunity and maintaining hygiene.