Epress.am News from Armenia
COVID-19 contagion continues to surge in Armenia, with 251 new cases on May 30 and 355 on May 31s and a total 14 deaths on both days.
The total number of COVID-19 cases has topped 9000 (9282), of which 3386 are cured and 5715 are under treatment. 131 persons have so far died, with 50 additional counted as dead from other illnesses accompanied with COVID-19.
At a press briefing on May 30, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the situation with the spread of the disease and health care capacities is grave, “we are on par with Russia’s rate of the spread and quickly approaching where Italy was in March-April.”
This may lead to a potential new lockdown to avoid collapse of the health care system, which is reported to be on the verge of exhausting intensive care capacities, although the Ministry of Health is trying to ramp up new capacities. A strict quarantine was declared in Armenia from March 14 to early May, which was eased to revitalize the economy.
The Ministry of Health has also reported that a mental health institution in Yerevan has seen an outbreak among both the patients and staff, which has led to mass testing of the patients and staff. The Ministry had earlier reported of COVID-19 cases in a Yerevan-based nursing home and an orphanage. The spread of the infection in the military is kept confidential.