Armenia is considered to be a low-risk country for the coronavirus, which was the reason why 132 people died in China. Deputy Minister of Health Lena Nanushyan spoke about this during a meeting with journalists.
This new virus was first recorded in December and it was the first time that people have gotten sick from it. Nanushyan said that, according to data from the World Health Organization, there have been 4,537 recorded cases of the coronavirus, and 106 of them resulted in death. The majority of cases were recorded in China, but there also have been cases in France, Germany, the USA, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Australia.
According to the deputy minister, the majority of cases were recorded among individuals who traveled to Wuhan, China. Now, Wuhan and the surrounding regions are quarantined. The head of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Liana Torosyan, told Armenian citizens to avoid visiting China for at least the next two months.
Regarding the incident at the Armenia-Georgia border, Torosyan said that the two individuals were citizens of China who were visiting Armenia and Georgia as tourists. “Their temperatures were checked three times and there was no indication that they had any illnesses. One of them had a temperature of 37 degrees and was quarantined for security. Both of them are under protection.” The citizens who visited Armenia from Georgia, according to Torosyan, were in Georgia for a long time. So, they were in Georgia when the virus first began to develop, which means that there is no danger. Torosyan said that Georgia denied rumors that a case of the coronavirus was recorded there.
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Armenia is a trade partner with China. Is there any danger of the virus transferring via products sent to Armenia? Torosyan does not believe that this is possible. In order for the virus to develop, it needs to have lived in the animal’s organism for 14 days. Therefore, it is not possible for the virus to live in home goods. It is easy to destroy the virus using alcohol or chlorine. Besides that, the importation of animal products and seafood from China to Armenia has been banned as of January 26th.
There are no laboratory tests in Armenia and the surrounding region for the coronavirus. Torosyan expressed hope that these tests will be available in 10 days, but if the need arises sooner, the samples can be sent to Russia for examination. Torosyan said that cases of human-to-human spread of the virus have only been recorded in China.
When asked if activities are being carried out to bring Armenian citizens home from China or if there is even a need to do so, Nanushyan said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working in that direction and has requested the citizens to remain in constant contact. Torosyan said that it is up to those citizens’ discretion whether or not they will return.
According to data from the WHO, Nanushyan said that the source of the virus was seafood and other animal products sold in Wuhan. It is possible that the virus was spread from wild animals or seafood to people.
Nelly Babayan
