It is an absolutely senseless decision: Epidemiologist Eduard Hovhannisyan on the mask mandate in open spaces starting November 1

It is an absolutely senseless decision: This is how epidemiologist Eduard Hovhannisyan responded to the Ministry of Health's decision to mandate mask-wearing in open areas starting November 1, in an interview with NEWS.am.

"It is a senseless decision, we said it was a senseless decision last year, and even more so now. I don’t understand this; it is an absolutely senseless decision, it cannot stop the spread of the virus, as people do not get infected in open spaces," he said.

According to the epidemiologist, the widespread transmission of the virus is related to long queues at vaccination and testing sites, as well as seasonal characteristics. "Vaccination should have been organized several months earlier. Or have you seen what happens in queues? That person, who needs to be vaccinated, if they become infected while waiting, they will carry the virus much more severely. And we need statistics on who carries the virus more severely and in which age group there are more deaths. It is possible that we are vaccinating those aged 40-45, while deaths are occurring among those aged 65 and older. We do not see such analysis," he noted.

According to Hovhannisyan, we have had the vaccine for more than six months in the country, but there is still no vaccination strategy.

It is worth recalling that according to the amendments made on September 11, 2020, by the Minister of Health of Armenia, in order to reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus disease, wearing a mask will also be mandatory in public open spaces starting November 1 when outside of residential areas.