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.
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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.
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The number of cases of coronavirus has reached 188 in Georgia as of the morning of April 6.36 of the 188 have recovered, while two elderly women, with several underlying health issues have died.148 people inside the country remain infected with the virus (two of the 188 were foreign citizens who left Georgia last month). 5,056 are under quarantine and 386 others are in hospitals.
Georgia has reported seven new cases of the coronavirus today, bringing the total number of cases to 195.Of the 195, 39 have recovered, while two have died. As of now there are 152 active cases of the virus inside the country. 4,708 people are under quarantine in Georgia and 370 others are in hospitals. The new cases are connected with the US, while three of the seven cases are cases of community transmission.
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Starting tomorrow at 9 p.m. people will not be able to enter or leave the four main cities of Georgia - Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Rustavi for 10 days at least and the state of emergency will be prolonged until May 10 to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated earlier today at a special briefing. He said that people inside the four main cities will be able to use their vehicles per the state of emergency restrictions.