Armenian healthcare system reaches verge of crisis because of COVID-19

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan blamed the population for the aggravating situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection. The country's health system will fail in the nearest future, virologist Ovakim Zakaryan warns.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Armenia, which population is smaller than that in Azerbaijan and Georgia, remains the leader among the countries of Southern Caucasus both by new cases of the coronavirus infection and by the total number of coronavirus-infected patients.

On May 25, while speaking on the air on Facebook, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that in the country, the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection was becoming an acute problem. According to the Prime Minister, one of the authorities' mistakes in the fight against the epidemic was the expectation of civil responsible behaviour of the population.

"It is primarily in the interests of everyone to comply with safety regulations. There are three rules that will reduce infection to zero: to avoid touching face with dirty hands and to wear masks wherever possible. The personal responsibility of each of us will make it possible to overcome the spread of the coronavirus infection," said Nikol Pashinyan as translated from the Armenian language by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Taking into account the incidence of the coronavirus infection, the healthcare system of Armenia will fail already this week, says virologist Ovakim Zakaryan, Research Officer at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

According to the virologist, Armenia faces the Italian scenario, when the healthcare system appeared to be not able to cope with the treatment of coronavirus-infected patients.

Virologist Ovakim Zakaryan believes that the country should prepare for the worst-case scenario. "It is the authorities' fault that the two-month quarantine appeared to be ineffective. Now the authorities are trying to put the responsibility on ordinary citizens instead of strictly monitoring compliance with the safety regulations," the virologist emphasized.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 26, 2020 at 07:41 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.