We Are in a Greater Tragedy Than Presented, Says Tovmasyan on COVID Data

The Ministry of Health compiles the data on COVID-related deaths solely based on the statistics from hospitals that handle COVID patients, meaning it only includes data from departments for COVID patients. However, it is known that many patients die at home or in other hospitals. This was stated by Taguhi Tovmasyan, a member of the 'I Have Honor' faction, in a conversation with Tert.am.

She noted that the data published by the Ministry of Health does not summarize the full picture. 'We are in a greater tragedy than presented. I have submitted a written inquiry to the Government to clarify why this statistics has been mixed and how this situation has arisen. They have a response indicating that a commission has been established to correct these errors. By December, the Ministry of Health must rectify the mistakes and inform us about how many people died from COVID in 2020. What exists is not real,' she emphasized.

Tovmasyan stressed that according to vaccination rates, Armenia currently has one of the lowest figures among countries. 'This speaks to a lack of trust in the Government. When they say, 'we have been entrusted, we have been elected,' if you are trusted, people would come and prepare for vaccination. The Government is obliged to clearly explain to people what it means to remain unvaccinated.'

She also addressed the actions and demands of the parents of missing servicemen. 'We have no precision regarding any issue, our number of casualties and their names have not been disclosed yet. The Ministry of Defense has not provided the complete figure. The same attitude pertains to the missing persons and prisoners. If we do not have an idea of how many people we are talking about, we naturally have no idea about resolving these issues either. I regret to say that the issue of the missing individuals will remain unresolved for a long time, and no one in the Government is there to tell the parents the bitter reality and take responsibility for it,' she stated.

Commenting on the practice of official agencies refuting the statements of the Human Rights Defender, Tovmasyan remarked, 'I endorse every statement and report from the Human Rights Defender, because any raising of issues by Arman Tatoyan is an alarm directed at the entire Armenian community and serves our interests. I am surprised why the Ministry of Defense and the Security Council deny Arman Tatoyan; what are you denying? They say Azerbaijan did not invade Armenian territory, and no communications have been built in Armenian territory, which is false, they have built it. Azerbaijanis have entered Armenian territory and have settled, constructing roads and establishing outposts. Targeting Arman Tatoyan is disgraceful. It turns out we do not have a consciousness of state interest. Instead of benefiting from the information published by Arman Tatoyan, the Ministry of Defense and Security Council deny it. Imagine there is a case ongoing in the European Court about the invasion of Armenia's sovereign territory, Azerbaijan could present our Ministry’s statement denying that an invasion occurred, thus the European Court would reject any of our applications,' Tovmasyan added.