A case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Maralik, Shirak. The person who has the virus is a man who was born in 1952. He also has several other chronic illnesses, including diabetes and vertebrobasilar circulatory disorder. He had not been out of the country, nor was he exposed to someone who had been confirmed to have the virus. Thus, it is not clear yet how he became infected.
According to the head of the Gyumri Medical Center, Armen Isahakyan, the man was taken to the hospital with double pneumonia. At that point, there had not yet been any confirmed cases in Maralik. Armen Isahakyan said that he was examined at the Gyumri Infection Hospital and did not have any medical history; he had not been outside Armenia and he did not come into contact with someone who had the virus. The hospital accepted him after being convinced that he did not have the coronavirus because the Gyumri Medical Center is not on the list of medical institutions that carry out treatment for the virus.
Armen Isahakyan told Aravot Daily, “The patient was taken to the Gyumri Medical Center for having double pneumonia, He also had diabetes and vertebrobasilar circulatory disorder. He needed to be taken to Yerevan. The patient was initially taken to Maralik, but there were no confirmed cases in Maralik. He had not been in another country, so it was assumed that he simply had pneumonia. However, when the patient was taken to Yerevan, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and was given a test, which came back positive. All of the medical workers who came into contact with the patient over the past 14 days will be quarantined in one of Gyumri’s hotels. They will be tested on the 14th day, after which they will be able to return to work. None of them are showing any symptoms of the virus.”
Read also
He continued, “This is a patient who became infected locally. He did not bring it from another country or come into contact with a confirmed case. Instead, the virus was passed on from person to person until he caught it. Therefore, any patient who will come to the medical center who has a fever will be taken to the infection hospital, where it will be decided whether they should be tested or not. If the test comes back positive, they will be taken to the St. Grigor Lusavorich Hospital for treatment. The Gyumri Medical Center will not treat patients with the coronavirus.”
The head of the Ani village, Artak Gevorgan, said that two families who came into contact with the patient were also quarantined. The patient is a hunter and he does not enjoy socialization. He lives with his wife. But the community does not know how the patient became infected. They only know that he was seen playing backgammon and he went to a funeral.
Nune Arevshatyan
