Georgian Defence Forces screen over 950,000 citizens at checkpoints
Georgian Defence Forces troops man a checkpoint where vehicles passing in and out of areas under monitoring are screened. Photo via Ministry of Defence of Georgia.
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Servicemembers of the Georgian Defence Forces have screened over 950,000 citizens at checkpoints across the country in an effort to monitor health conditions of those travelling on roads amid the new coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Defence of Georgia reported on Tuesday.
The ministry said over 1,000 troops were involved in efforts to help limit a spread of the virus at 75 checkpoints across the country operated jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The personnel check health conditions of those driving through the areas by providing thermal screening.
The checkpoints have been set up starting March 22, with GDF servicemembers screening 487,930 vehicles and 962,955 citizens on the roads. These locations have included the Bolnisi and Marneuli municipalities - the two early lockdown spots - as well as a quarantine zone in Kobuleti and other hotspots.
Only vehicles serving medical supply chains, grocery stores and banks are allowed into densely populated areas under lockdown, with locals prohibited from exiting or entering them, the ministry said.
Personnel involved in screening efforts are trained before getting involved, with detailed information on vehicles and number of citizens undergoing thermal screening sent up chains of command.
Georgian Defence Force servicemembers are ensuring quarantine conditions in eastern Georgia's Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities using equipment provided by partners from the United States and Germany.
One more individual has tested positive for the new coronavirus in Georgia, bringing total confirmed cases to 91. Medical director of Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases Marina Ezugbaia said s/he had returned from England and was self-isolating until now.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili visited a checkpoint at the entrance of the Marneuli municipality which is under quarantine for the seventh day now. President Zurabishvili thanked police, military servicemen and healthcare professionals for their nonstop fight against the coronavirus.
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.
The Ministry of Defence of Georgia will obtain NATO-standard hardware to replace some of the current equipment used by the Georgian Defence Forces, with the replacement necessitated by challenges demonstrated during COVID-19 lockdown efforts by the troops.