Healthcare officials call for social distancing to avoid more coronavirus-related cases, deaths
Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze has stated that the social distancing is one of the most powerful weapon against the virus. Photo: Interior Ministry press office
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Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze has again called on the citizens to stay home, avoid public gatherings and maintain social distancing to avoid the further spread of the virus amid the upcoming religious celebrations.
Gamkrelidze said as the country has declared the state of emergency which prohibits public gatherings, everyone is equal to the law despite their religious feelings.
Police fine hundreds of people every day for violating the state of emergency regulations in Georgia. Photo: Interior Ministry press office
Considering “the huge threat” that hundreds of European countries have faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Gamkrelidze reiterated that "the social distancing is the most powerful weapon" against the virus and called on the public to stay home and watch the liturgies on TV.
The less we gather and the less people will gather, the greater the chance that we will not have a widespread epidemic and thus avoid more cases of infection and death”, he stated.
Gamkrelidze further noted that considering the speed of its spread, the country might have 350-400 confirmed cases of coronavirus by the end of this week, while every next week the number of new cases might double. Therefore, he said the rest of April and the first two weeks of May would be “rather severe”.
As of now, Georgia has confirmed a total of 196 cases of coronavirus, including 46 recoveries and three deaths. Photo: Defence Ministry press office
He also explained that as a respiratory infection COVID-19 might “step back” in summer, however, it might annually “remind us of itself” as a seasonal virus.
Director of Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases Tengiz Tsertsvadze also considers that there will not be above hundred new cases of coronavirus in Georgia per day in near future.
Tsertsvadze also thinks that overall the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country will range between 1,000-2,000, while the virus will start declining in mid-May.
Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said today that two sources of COVID-19 transmission out of the 85 confirmed cases could not be identified. Calling on everyone to stay home, he said “social distancing is the most powerful weapon" against the coronavirus.
Georgian citizens have gathered at their balconies at 9 pm today to applaud healthcare professional, who have been preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia. Since February 26, 2020, Georgia had 38 confirmed cases of COVID-19, however, the first patient who has recovered has been discharged.
Georgia ranks 109th worldwide and 50th in Europe in terms of the spread of COVID-19 and mortalities caused by the coronavirus, which is the one of the best results across the globe, head of Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases Tengiz Tsertsvadze said. Georgia has had 195 cases of the coronavirus since February 2020. 39 of the 195 have recovered. Two of the 195 have died of the virus so far, while two others were foreign citizens who left the country last month.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has urged people, parishioners, to stay home and pray to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “As clerics frequently say and I also believe in this, God is omnipresent. We have the opportunity to stay home and pray and clerics will pray for us from churches”, Tikaradze said earlier today. Deputy Head of the National Disease Control Centre Paata Imnadze also urged parishioners to stay home and through doing so “protect the church and the whole country.”
Georgia has reported 13 new cases of the coronavirus today, bringing the total number of cases to 208. Of the 208 individuals, 46 have recovered, while three others have died. As of now 157 individuals remain infected with the virus in the country. 4,674 people are under quarantine in Georgia, while 362 others are in hospitals.
Additional police checkpoints will be set up in Georgia’s western Vani Municipality. Medics will thermoscreen all citizens at the checkpoints in order to prevent the spread on the new coronavirus. Government has made the decision since several new cases of the virus have been confirmed in Georgia earlier today out of which one is connected with Vani municipality.
3,271 individuals have been tested for COVID-19 in Georgia (as of April 7) since January 2020, while the country has had 208 cases so far. A handful of individuals have been tested several times and 3,457 tests have been used in total. In all the cases, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, a gold-standard in epidemiology for detecting viral matter in blood samples, was used. The method takes just several hours to give results, but is highly accurate.
The total number of recoveries from the coronavirus has reached 50 in Georgia. The country has confirmed a total of 208 cases of COVID-19 since February 26, including 153 active cases of the virus and three deaths.
Lentekhi municipality in the western Georgian region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti has been placed under “strict quarantine” after four locals tested positive for the coronavirus. Given the full quarantine, local residents will be able to go out only to buy food or medicines, or receive medical care.
Starting 12 p.m. on April 17, all private vehicle traffic will be banned throughout the country until the end of the state of emergency. Prime Minister’s spokesperson Irakli Chikovani announced that despite “the strict recommendations” from healthcare officials to stay home, there is still much movement on the streets.
Georgia has reported 34 new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 370. Of the 370 patients 77 have recovered, while three others have died. As of today Georgia has 293 active cases of the virus. A total of 5,035 people are under quarantine in Georgia and 540 others are in hospitals.
Orthodox Christians in Georgia are celebrating one of the most significant dates in the religious calendar, Easter. The liturgy started around 11 p.m. last night at Trinity Cathedral in Georgian capital of Tbilisi and some other churches throughout the country but few worshippers attended the service amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Georgian government has confirmed its restrictions on private vehicle use across the country will be enforced until Wednesday and could be extended.
Head of Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital Tengiz Tsertsvadze says there are almost no new cases of community transmission of COVID-19 in Georgia. He earlier noted that the rate of coronavirus infection is currently decreasing in the country.