Head of NCDC: ‘the biggest challenge for the healthcare system is the lack of inpatient beds, medics’

Head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze says the biggest challenge for the Georgian healthcare system is the lack of inpatient beds and medics during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gamkrelidze noted that Georgian medics are constantly being trained in infection prevention and control issues in order to minimise the risk of them being infected by the virus.

Since the beginning of the pandemic 1,678 medics have been infected with COVID-19 in Georgia, of which the majority have already recovered and returned to the hospitals to work…There are 27,000-28,000 certified doctors in the country who are not employed currently, although if need arises, they will be trained in order to help epidemiologists in the fight against the coronavirus”, said Gamkrelidze.

Gamkrelidze also said that currently 249 inpatient beds are free for COVID-19 patients and about 8,000 beds may be allocated if the need arises in the country.

Georgia has reported 1,824 new cases of coronavirus, 1,262 recoveries and 23 deaths in the past 24 hours.

• Check the list of Georgian laboratories offering to make a test to diagnose COVID-19

Georgia has had 32,127 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020.  Since then 12,632 patients have recovered, while 238 others have died.