State of emergency coming to an end: what plans are in place to continue fighting the coronavirus?
As of May 22, 216 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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The two-month state of emergency as well as curfew will end in Georgia at 00:00 on May 23, lifting movement and other, coronavirus-related restrictions in Georgia.
The restriction which banned more than three people in a car will only be maintained for taxis. Restrictions for public and municipal transport, at the border and for certain economic activities, will remain in force,” Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says.
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Georgia continues to have a low infection rate, reporting just two new cases of the coronavirus earlier today.
Photo: coronavirus live update.
As of today, 216 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. The country has had 723 cases of the coronavirus since February 26, 2020.
The government says despite a “very effective and stunning fight against the coronavirus which has become exemplary for many states the virus is still present in the country and they (the government) should have tools to keep the situation under control.”
Yesterday the parliament passed a bill with its first reading which allows the government to impose various restrictions without the parliament’s consent.
80 MPs voted for the bill and three voted against it. The opposition refused to participate in the vote as ‘the bill is unconstitutional and grants dangerous power to the ruling party in the face of parliamentary elections in October.’
Photo: coronavirus live update.
The adopted bill, which still needs two readings for final approval, reads that the government will be able to impose movement, economic, labour and other restrictions ‘only temporarily’ until July 2020.
An exact date will be specified later today in parliament.
The bill earlier proposed that the government would be able to impose restrictions without the declaration of state of emergency until the end of the pandemic.
The ruling party says that the opposition’s fears of the bill are ‘ungrounded,’ as it provides just temporary measures.
The ruling party stated that the recommendations of Georgian Ombudsperson Nino Lomjaria regarding the bill have been ‘almost fully taken into account.’
Georgia has reported eight new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 721. 485 of the 721 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died. As of May 21, 224 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Georgia has maintained a low infection rate over the past several days. The country is scheduled to end the state of emergency and curfew tomorrow.
Georgia has reported six new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 713. Four of the six new cases are from the Mushevani village of Bolnisi municipality which is under strict lockdown.475 of the 713 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died. As of May 20, 226 people remain infected with COVID-19, while the number stood at 239 yesterday.
Georgia has reported just one new case of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 702.465 of the 702 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died since the outbreak of the infection. As of today, 234 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Several villages in the Bolnisi municipality of eastern Georgia, which have been under strict lockdown for two months, opened earlier today.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said the ‘high sense of responsibility’ of Georgian citizens, ‘swift government action’ and international support from its partners ‘have been invaluable’ in the fight against the coronavirus. PM Gakharia also referred to the recent article of the Washington Post which named Georgia among countries, which have ‘gained newfound recognition as the world takes note of their early, and still tentative, successes’.
The Georgian parliament has passed a bill with its third and final reading earlier today which allows the government to impose movement, labour, migration, economic and other restrictions without the declaration of the state of emergency. 94 MPs in the 150-member parliament voted for the bill, no one was against. The opposition boycotted the vote.
The 63-day state of emergency has come to an end at 00:00 on May 23, lifting movement and other coronavirus-related restrictions in Georgia. However, the restriction banning more than three people in a car will be maintained for taxis. No public and municipal transport will be available at this point.