Coronavirus in Georgia: what you need to know about testing
Georgia has had 208 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. Photo: Health Ministry press office.
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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.
48 of the 208 people infected with coronavirus have recovered, three have died and two others were foreign citizens who left the country last month.
As of today Georgia has 155 active cases of the virus.
4,682 are under quarantine and 375 others in hospitals.
Why was there no need to test more people?
Georgian health officials have responded to speculations that Georgia has tested few people and ‘that is why the country has fewer cases of the virus.’
The health officials say that those countries who have tested many people have used various rapid tests and most of the tests are not PCR.
They said that everyone in the country who showed the symptoms of the virus has been tested.
There is no one in the country who must have been tested and they were not tested,” head of the National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze said.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze says that as of today the country has enough resources to provide treatment for about 3,500 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and another 5,000 can be placed under the supervision of trained medical personnel. Photo: Health Ministry press office.
Other reasons mentioned by them include:
- Georgia has taken urgent and timely measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and have contained the virus successfully for several weeks.
- Before the end of March the sources of the infection were known and people who had contact with the infected people have been isolated.
- Urgent and timely measures by the government to contain the virus, including the closure of borders, state of emergency and curfew have prevented the further spread of the virus.
- If there were more cases of the virus in the country than the official statistics show, more people would have addressed hospitals and mortalities would be far higher compared to the same period of the last year.
- Georgia has received international praise for its effective fight against the coronavirus.
- Georgia leading one of the most effective fights worldwide against coronavirus
- EU ambassador: ‘I cannot think of a better place to be right now than here in Georgia’
- US ambassador Degnan: ‘we’re particularly grateful for the pro-active efforts of Georgian gov’t to contain coronavirus’
- German Council on Foreign Relations:Georgia is a laudable exception
Gamkrelidze says that Georgia is likely to have about 400 people infected with COVID-19 by the end of the week. Photo: NCDC.
How many tests does Georgia have?
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze says that as of now Georgia has 2,000 PCR tests, while 10,000 such tests have already entered the country and 18,000 will enter in the coming days.
The total number of the PCR tests we have ordered is 84,000,” Tikaradze said.
She stated that Georgia already has 4,000 tests based on antibody, while 20,000 such tests will enter the country in the coming days.
Tikaradze said that the country has 2,000 rapid tests and 52,000 others will enter Georgia in the coming days.
As soon as the validity of the tests are confirmed by the National Disease Control Centre, we will purchase additional 200,000,” Tikaradze stated.
Georgia is negotiating with American Cepheid, the only company which is producing cartridge-based tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
These are tests of top quality, which give results in 45 minutes. By the end of April we are likely to know when Georgia will receive the tests.” Deputy health minister said last week.
Georgia is waiting for the pick of the virus in mid-April.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced a nationwide curfew starting tomorrow at 8 a.m, ‘to effectively contain the spread of coronavirus in Georgia’. Speaking at a special briefing earlier today, Gakharia said that the government has made ‘fast, brave and effective’ decisions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, that is why the country has only had 100 confirmed cases of the virus since February 2020, including 18 recovered.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Georgia has confirmed three new cases of coronavirus increasing the total number of cases to 211, including 50 recoveries and three deaths.
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakhara has called on Georgian citizens to call 112 if they notice a fever or shortness of breathing.
Deputy Head of the National Disease Control Centre (NCDC) Paata Imnadze says that there are only three cases of coronavirus infection in Georgia for which the source has not been yet identified.
Georgian health officials say that Georgia’s statistics pertaining to the coronavirus are reliable, dismissing reports of several media outlets that the country is hiding its real figures.
The Georgian Ministry of Health will import 50,000 PCR (rapid polymerase chain reaction) antigen tests from South Korea in early May. The rapid tests, produced by the South Korean company SD Biosensor allows to detect specific antigens to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Georgia will receive an additional 40,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from China tomorrow, Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze has announced.
Six of 1,000 Tbilisi residents were found to have coronavirus antibodies, head of Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital Tengiz Tsertsvadze said earlier today.
Georgia has tested 60, 273 people for coronavirus in Georgia between January 30 and June 3 with the use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, which is the ‘gold standard’ in testing the virus.
A seroprevalence study will be conducted in four municipalities in Georgia to examine the presence of Covid-19 in the country and determine whether residents of the municipalities have been infected with the virus in recent months but went below the radar of the healthcare system or were asymptomatic.