First Death Recorded in Prison Due to Coronavirus, Minister Reports

First death has been recorded in a correctional facility due to the coronavirus, announced Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan in the National Assembly.

“I regret to inform you that today we have the first death connected to the coronavirus in the correctional facility, if I have been correctly informed. There are clarifications being made, there are specific medical issues, but, preliminarily, they reported that the death is related to the coronavirus,” said Andreasyan.

The minister emphasized that urgent measures are now being discussed regarding how to, at least temporarily, limit certain movements in order to ensure the health of those in correctional facilities during severe epidemic conditions. “In the future, we are also thinking about what systemic approaches we can take to address this issue in 2022. Until today, closed institutions have arguably been better protected, as their regime has been more beneficial against the pandemic. However, given the more aggressive nature of the virus now, even closed institutions are facing difficulties,” Andreasyan highlighted.