Health minister: ‘God is everywhere – please, stay home and pray’

The Georgian Patriarchate says that churches will not be temporarily closed due to the coronavirus. Photo: shutterstock.

Agenda.ge, 06 Apr 2020 - 17:49, Tbilisi,Georgia

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.” 

Georgian churches continue activities and to hold the communion rite in the same way as earlier. 

Places are marked in the churches to keep distance between parishioners. 

Imnadze says that people should stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Photo: NCDC press office.

Tikaradze also said that testing of medical personnel for COVID-19 has been launched, adding that ‘target groups’ will be expanded to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

She said that as of now the state is fully covering the expenses for the treatment of the virus and said that negotiations are in progress with private insurance companies to share the financial burden. 

As of now Georgia has 188 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. 36 of the 188 have recovered. 

Of the 188 two have died of the virus,while two others were foreign citizens who left the country last month. 

Georgia has received international praise for its effective fight against the coronavirus.