Tbilisi-based Lugar Lab to be able to test for new coronavirus
The Head of NCDC, Amiran Gamkrelidze says there have been no cases of coronavirus uncovered in Georgia so far. Photo: 1TV.ge.
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The Lugar Laboratory in Tbilisi will have a new test to diagnose the new China-born coronavirus 2019-nCOV starting February 4, said the head of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health Amiran Gamkrelidze.
Sending test samples abroad will no longer be required, said Gamkrelidze.
The official data released by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there are 17,205 laboratory-confirmed cases in China and unfortunately the death toll has reached 361. 475 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals…Georgia still remains in the low-risk zone”, said Gamkrelidze.
Three Georgian citizens remain under observation in the Centre for Infectious Diseases and their condition is satisfactory.
Gamkrelidze says there have been no cases of coronavirus uncovered in Georgia so far.
Georgia has temporarily suspended direct flights with China to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and passengers travelling from China to Georgia are also being examined.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that the healthcare system is ready to efficiently respond to the challenge of the coronavirus if it appears in Georgia.
The new coronavirus, which is thought to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan, China, can spread between people.
The incubation period can range from two to 10 days. It causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms mostly start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.
Georgian citizens are being evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the new coronavirus originated. Turkey has evacuated three Georgian citizens among other passengers, while France has evacuated two. Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has thanked both countries for arranging flights.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani announced today that Georgia stands with China amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus. FM Zalkaliani also thanked Turkey for arranging a flight to evacuate Georgian citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the new coronavirus originated.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has confirmed that Turkey will evacuate Georgian citizens from Wuhan, Hubei province of China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak of the new coronavirus – 2019-nCOV.
Two Georgian citizens who have come from China will be tested in Germany for the presence of the new coronavirus - 2019-nCov.A 24-year-old man who worked in China and a woman who came from Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the new virus outbreak, have no signs of pneumonia [which is the major symptom of the new coronavirus] and have a low temperature. However, they have none of the viruses Georgia can test individuals for inside the country.
Head of the Georgian National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze stated earlier today that the reagents arrived in Georgia at Kutaisi International Airport at 1 a.m. this morning.“We are very grateful to the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, with whom we have been cooperating closely over past several years, to make it possible for us to diagnose the new coronavirus in Tbilisi,” Gamkrelidze said.
Two Georgian citizens with flu symptoms who came to the country from China, have tested negative for the new coronavirus, head of the Georgian National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze stated earlier today, after receiving test results from the Netherlands.Georgia sent the blood samples of the patients to the Netherlands at the end of last week as at that time Georgia was unable to test people for the 2019-nCOV virus, which originated in the city of Wuhan of China at the end of 2019 and has already killed 425.
Three Georgian citizens, who have been evacuated from China amid the recent China-born coronavirus, have arrived in Tbilisi via Dubai. Luka Bukhrashvili, Nino Vashalomidze and Ani Tatishvili have gone through the required medical observation at the airport.
A Korean citizen with flu symptoms remains in Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital and samples will be taken in order to diagnose whether he is negative for the new coronavirus or not, said Tengiz Tsertsvadze, the head of the hospital.
Georgia still remains in the low-risk zone for the spread of the coronavirus, though the National Disease Control Centre has begun strengthening efforts in order to efficiently respond to the recent China-born coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Disease Control Centre (NCDC) has announced today.
Georgia’s tourism sector will lose about 30 million GEL per month (about $10.79m/€9.93m) following the coronavirus ban on travel from China and Iran, announces Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
The US Embassy to Georgia says it is happy to see more Georgians are learning about the important work of the Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which was constructed with the funds allocated by the US government.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says that they are waiting for a response from Tbilisi to allow Russian experts to enter the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre, which is now under the full control of the Georgian government.
The US embassy to Georgia has stated that as the world marks the anniversary of Georgian independence and celebrates Georgia’s success in combating COVID-19, the United States protests the ongoing, provocative ‘borderisation’ by Russian-led security forces along the occupation line of the Russian-occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
At a meeting with the diplomatic corps in the Kakheti region of Georgia the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia thanked the United States for its contribution in founding the Lugar Laboratory in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia visited the US-built Lugar Centre in Tbilisi earlier today, with heads of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze.
The so-called security committee of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali reports a Georgian citizen who ‘illegally crossed the so-called border’ on July 3 was going to catch bats in Russian-controlled territory.
The Georgian Interior Ministry reported earlier today that its eleven employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. All of them feel well and epidemiologists are now actively studying their contacts. Over 20 individuals have already been transferred to the quarantine zone, the Interior Ministry reported.
The National Centre for the Disease Control (NCDC) announced yesterday that phone calls on behalf of its Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research, also known as Lugar Lab, allegedly offering coronavirus medications are fake.