On 23 October, Armenia reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. It was reported that in the past 24 hours 2,474 new infection cases and 14 deaths were recorded, bringing the total tally to 73,310 and 1,145 deaths. Azerbaijan reported that the total number of infected persons in the country stands at 48,221 with 656 reported deaths. Georgia reported 1,759 new cases of Covid-19 and 5 deaths bringing the total tally of infected people to 24,562 and 183 deaths.
Epidemiologists from all three countries said that the situation regarding the virus was getting more critical every day. Lusine Paronyan, an epidemiologist at the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the country’s healthcare system may soon collapse. "The healthcare system may soon collapse, and we will be unable to hospitalise critically ill patients. Resources are constantly expanding; new hospitals are being redesigned to treat people with the infection. Today we have about 2,000 patients who are being treated in hospitals, but there are many cases where people need hospitalisation and they are waiting for a bed in a particular hospital to become available" she said. Paronyan also stressed that Armenian soldiers engaged in Nagorno-Karabakh fighting need more healthcare resources and doctors, which makes combating of the virus even harder. In addition, Armenia’s police switched to an enhanced patrolling to monitor compliance of citizens with the anti-coronavirus rules.
The head of the Working Group of TABIB Vasif Aliyev stated the Covid-19 situation in Azerbaijan is critical. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan currently is in a war situation and that everyone’s attention is directed to the frontline: “Of course, these are understandable, but now we have forgotten the coronavirus… we look at it as an ordinary enemy, our attention is not [like it was previously]… Mass gatherings occur in this regard. However, masks should be worn in closed places. After victory news comes from the front, people gather in one place, this joy is understandable, but we forget another enemy, coronavirus in this situation and allow it around us. I recommend that absolutely there should not be mass gatherings, it would be better for everyone to celebrate victory news at home.”
The Georgian government stated that wearing facemasks in open areas in the three main cities of Georgia - Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi - was strongly recommended to prevent the further spread of the Covid-19 and that that police and the Health Ministry will monitor wearing face masks in open areas in the three cities. In addition, The European Union (EU) announced that it would cut Georgia from its safe country list amid a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases in the country in the last few weeks.
