My Step faction deputy Vagharshak Hakobyan went to Tsaghkadzor to find out more about the situation surrounding the coronavirus. Reporters in parliament asked him about rumors stating that tourists left the area and that the hotels are virtually empty. They asked him if he had any information about that. He responded, “When information spread that our citizens were taken to Tsaghkadzor, people started panicking, which led to representatives of the My Step faction, the Minister of Health, and I as a deputy elected from the region went to the city and we had meetings with its residents. The residents approached the situation with understanding and they expressed their support for the people who are now in Tsaghkadzor. After that, the municipality made an announcement that there is no panic in the city and rumors that hotels have emptied out are not entirely true. The hashtag “#եկԾաղկաձոր” (come to Tsaghkadzor) began to spread on Facebook and other forms of social media. Its intention is to call upon people to visit Tsaghkadzor and enjoy winter sports on their days off. Anyone who wants to support the city and its tourism needs to take advantage of that offer.”
According to the deputy, the cases mentioned by Gagik Tsarukyan and Gevorg Petrosyan about how people are canceling their reservations for hotels in Tsaghkadzor, such as the tourist who panicked and paid 25,000 AMD for a taxi and told the taxi to take them to Yerevan, are individual cases. There is no panic at the moment. Vagharshak Hakobyan said that he spoke to the owners and directors of several hotels in Tsaghkadzor, which leads him to be able to believe that the situation is under control.
Vagharshak Hakobyan announced that Armenia was able to get out of the situation caused by the coronavirus quickly and with the use of minimal resources due to its fast and operative response. When asked if the coronavirus has gone away, Hakobyan left. “It’s almost gone.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
