Epress.am News from Armenia
On June 4, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Armenia announced about close to 700 new cases and on June 5 close to 600 new COVID-19 cases in Armenia with a population well under 3mln. In the last two days, about 25 people have died, with 13 reported directly from COVID-19, and the rest from “other conditions” as the diseased were also diagnosed with the new coronavirus.
As of morning June 5, the total number of COVID-19 registered cases is 11817, of which 3513 are cured, 252 have died (183 directly and the rest from “other” conditions). 8052 persons undergo hospital or home care. A total 65131 tests have been conducted. The number of patients in a critical condition is also increasing, with 418 reported critically ill, 81 extremely critical. Fatalities with young persons are also reported.
The health system is grappling with the situation. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, himself COVID-19 positive, in a distantly attended cabinet meeting mentioned that the Government is discussing a number of scenarios, including return to a strict lockdown. From an economic perspective, he claimed that calculations may lead to the conclusion that a strict lockdown’s economic burden may be unbearable. “Nonetheless, we are discussing a few scenarios and yes, we will decide on one of them,” said Pashinyan.
Health Minister Arsen Torosyan reported that about 20 percent of COVID-19-positive persons need hospitalization, “therefore dropping the new number of cases is critically important in order to be able to medically attend everyone needed, otherwise this will be impossible,” said Torosyan in a cabinet meeting on June 4.
“For 10000 COVID-19-positive persons about 2500 need hospital care, including intensive therapy. We are on the threshold, beyond which the health system will bend,” said Pashinyan earlier on June 4, emphasizing that the true number of infected persons is close to 20.000, as most people are asymptomatic and are not aware of it. “These people are everywhere, in order to stop the spread, we must consider all of us as infected and behave in a way that prevents the spread,” said Pashinyan again calling on people to wear masks everywhere, in outdoor and indoor public spaces, including while having a walk, in parks etc.