In April, We Experienced a Reduction of Fifty Thousand Jobs: Pashinyan

In April, while the country was under strict restrictions for two months, we recorded that social and economic issues were deepening at a rapid pace. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during an emergency government session.

“In April, we experienced a reduction of fifty thousand jobs. We see that, nevertheless, as much as we could adhere to certain visibly apparent anti-epidemic rules, across the entire territory of the Republic, particularly in less visible areas, we saw that the rules were not being followed at all. On the other hand, we came to the realization that it is impossible to solve this issue without the involvement of citizens, without sharing responsibility. We concluded that the government must bear its share of responsibility, but it is impossible to maintain the anti-epidemic situation without the participation of citizens,” said Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister noted that they have received the opportunity to fundamentally address the issue. “I want to emphasize the police's tough response. Today, alongside the decrease in numbers, we have a significant increase in the number of citizens fined for not wearing masks. This means that citizens are taking the message about the decrease in numbers too optimistically. If we do not assess this situation correctly now, we might roll back to the situation of July,” Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister emphasized the urgent need for strict discipline in mask-wearing.