Government Fighting Coronavirus Violates Rules: 'Zhoghovurd'

'Zhoghovurd' newspaper reports: 'The number of coronavirus infection cases has increased for the first time in the last seven weeks. The world will not overcome the virus by the end of the year. This is not our invention; this was announced by the World Health Organization.

As of March 3, Armenia has recorded a total of 172,816 cases of the coronavirus, of which 163,906 have recovered, and 3,202 resulted in death. Yesterday, there were 2,526 tests conducted, confirming 360 new cases of the disease. We also have 2 new death cases.

Globally and in Armenia, the numbers of coronavirus continue to rise, yet both the government and the opposition are organizing rallies. Remember, on March 1, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a rally with a large crowd, despite having distributed masks and urging people to follow safety protocols just months earlier.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Health's policy seems unclear, given that large gatherings are a major source of virus transmission. Come and see that in our republic, when the number of coronavirus cases has been rising in recent days, the Minister of Health attends a rally.

We inquired with the press secretary of the Ministry of Health, Hripsime Khachatryan, whether they are concerned about the rise in infection cases, especially when experts insist that large gatherings are a source of the virus. According to the press secretary, rallies could contribute to the increase; it is one of the affecting factors. She then stated that COVID-19 centers are reopening, the situation is monitored by the ministry, and of course, they are concerned.

This means that the government fighting the coronavirus violated pandemic rules for an entire day without facing any penalties, while months ago, thousands of citizens were fined 10,000 drams for not wearing a mask.

The three crucial anti-epidemic rules of social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand hygiene are being violated at gatherings organized by both the opposition and the government. Meanwhile, last March 23, the National Assembly approved amendments to the Administrative and Criminal Codes, according to which citizens could face fines of up to 700,000 drams for recklessly infecting one or more persons, and could be detained or imprisoned.

Will these laws, adopted under the conditions of the coronavirus, apply to participants of the ongoing rallies on March 1 and beyond? As the President of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan stated, 'the coronavirus infection is no joke.'

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.