Healthcare official urges public to get Covid-19 jabs, says pandemic not over yet
In a social media post on Thursday, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, the head of the Infectious Diseases and AIDS Centre in Tbilisi, summarised the current situation with the pandemic throughout the world and in Georgia, noting a downward global trend over the past months but adding 300-400 thousand new cases and 1,000-1,500 deaths per day were still being recorded. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Tweet 
Share
Tengiz Tsertsvadze, the head of the Infectious Diseases and AIDS Centre in Tbilisi, has urged the public to get their Covid-19 vaccines or its booster doses, saying the pandemic was “not fully over yet”.
In a social media post on Thursday, Tsertsvadze summarised the current situation with the pandemic throughout the world and in Georgia, noting a downward global trend over the past months but adding 300-400 thousand new cases and 1,000-1,500 deaths per day were still being recorded.
He also revealed Covid statistics in Georgia that showed 13 deaths from the virus over the past month, and added fatal cases in recent months had “almost always” occurred in patients who had delayed consultations with doctors or applied to hospitals too late.
In his overall summary of the global situation, Tsertsvadze said European Union countries had detected circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variant sub-lineages BQ.1 over the recent weeks.
Official information released by the European centre for disease prevention and control on October 21 said over 80 percent of SARS-CoV-2 cases were expected to be due to BQ.1/BQ.1.1 by the beginning of 2023.
Georgia will receive Paxlovid, a Covid-19 treatment medication created by Pfizer, starting this week, Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili announced on Tuesday.
Wearing a face mask in outdoor spaces will no longer be mandatory across Georgia starting March 28, Giorgi Ghibradze of the Interagency Coordination Council announced earlier today.
A range of Covid-19-related limitations on public events and gatherings will begin to be eased in Georgia starting next month, from club venues being allowed to operate at reduced capacity, to weddings, conferences and other gatherings permitted.
Georgian health authorities have not recorded a single Covid-related death in the country over the last 24 hours, marking the first time no individual has died from the virus in the country since September 2020.
Ivane Chkhaidze, the medical director of Iashvili children’s hospital on Saturday said the “overwhelming” majority of flu cases have been the so-called Hong Kong H3-N2 virus, which appears to be more severe in children, unlike the current coronavirus variant.
There is no risk of a fresh surge of Covid-19 cases across Georgia, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Monday in comments that said his office was monitoring the pandemic’s global trends.