Armenian health authorities recorded a peak number of positive COVID-19 cases on February 2.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Armenia reported 3,956 new cases on Wednesday, the highest number of positive cases registered in one day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 374,878 cases and 8,060 deaths have been recorded since March 2020 in a country with a population of approximately three million. Four people died on Wednesday due to COVID-19.
Coronavirus cases have been steadily increasing in Armenia since mid-January. The surge follows a relatively slow rate of infections at the end of 2021, when daily cases were recorded in the double or triple digits. MoH officials attribute the rise in cases to the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Omicron was first detected in Armenia on January 7, when the MoH reported that two patients had been infected with the highly contagious strain. On January 16, the MoH announced seven more Omicron cases. According to Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan, Omicron infections now constitute a “considerable percentage” of the incidence of the coronavirus.
According to Avanesyan, the new surge in cases has not yet impacted hospital capacity. Between five to six-percent of patients currently infected with the coronavirus require hospitalization. Six medical centers are treating COVID-19 patients, and the MoH can set up additional hospital beds “if need be.”
The rapid transmission of cases has not led to a rise in hospitalizations and deaths due to the ongoing vaccination campaign, according to Avanesyan.
As of January 30, 842,212 people have been fully inoculated against COVID-19, or approximately 28-percent of the population. About 64-percent of the population, or 1,883,413 people, has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The highest rate of inoculation is among people between the ages of 35-60. Only 18 to 19-percent of citizens over the age of 65 have received two doses of the vaccine.
“Our main objective now is to increase vaccination rates among citizens aged 65 and older,” Avanesyan said during a January 27 cabinet meeting.
The vaccination mandate for employees might be responsible for the age disparity in vaccination rates. Since October, employees have been required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test every 14 days to their employer. Employees who choose not to get inoculated against the coronavirus must take tests at their own expense. A PCR test in Armenia costs roughly 10,000 drams (about $20).
The MoH also instituted a coronavirus “green pass” in January to enter cultural and entertainment venues. As of January 22, people can only enter restaurants, hotels, gyms, libraries, museums, theaters, cinemas and other cultural sites if they present proof of vaccination, a negative PCR test from the previous 72 hours or an antibody test from the previous 24 hours. The mandate, which was announced on January 9, excludes children under the age of 18, pregnant women, people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and people who have been previously infected with the coronavirus.
A similar coronavirus pass has long been in effect in Armenia’s neighboring countries. Azerbaijan has mandated a coronavirus passport since September 2021. Georgia instituted a coronavirus “green pass” in December, yet authorities lifted the requirement on February 1, claiming its inefficiency against the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Armenian health officials say they will not expand the mandate to include places “of extreme necessity,” including public transportation, grocery stores or shopping malls.
“We have adopted the principle not to apply this restriction as much as possible to necessary services, but to apply it to entertainment venues,” Avanesyan told reporters on January 23. “Those primary services without which it is difficult to imagine, we keep those services free from restrictions as much as possible.”
The mandate operates through the “Armed” mobile application. Initially, venues could scan a QR code in the app that would certify a person’s vaccination or test status.
However, critics argued that the QR code violated the right to privacy.
Samvel Martirosyan, an information security and media expert, said that the QR code posed a threat to the security of private data.
“The most incredible thing is that if my QR code is scanned at every café, they will be able to see my name, patronymic, surname, birthdate and passport number. Well, who decided that we are a small nation and we should know everything about each other? Who decided that my passport number is public information? If that is the case, add to that my home address, phone number and social security number,” he wrote on Facebook on the day the mandate came into effect.
The MoH initially dismissed privacy concerns surrounding the “Armed” app. Avanesyan said that there is “no question of privacy” when citizens freely “provide the information by their will.”
However, on January 25, the MoH announced that venues would no longer have to scan a QR code to check vaccination or test status. Rather, it would be sufficient for people to show a “green pass” in the app. If venues do scan the QR code, all personal data except for a person’s name would be hidden.
Some business owners have lamented the potential economic consequences of the “green pass.” “In short, the healthcare benefit is zero, but the negative effect on business is 100 percent,” Ashot Barseghyan, head of the Restaurant Association, told 5 TV Channel.
“I’m not going anywhere since I don’t want to get vaccinated,” one woman said to 5 TV Channel. “During the highest peak of COVID, when everything in Europe was strict, Armenia did nothing. Now, when the economy is down and businesses have to work, they are coming up with these restrictions.”
The MoH also announced on January 30 that quarantine restrictions would be eased. The required period of self-isolation for airline passengers arriving in Armenia has been reduced from 14 to seven days for people inoculated against the coronavirus and to 10 days for people who are unvaccinated. The quarantine period can be reduced to a week if unvaccinated people provide proof of a negative PCR test.
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