Hetq has published several articles outlining the situation in hospitals in the provinces of Armenia.

We wanted to find out to what extent they are ready to receive and treat coronavirus patients.

In a Facebook comment on one of the published articles, a reader also asked us to report about the situation at the Ashtarak Medical Center.

"Come to Ashtarak. Take photos. It’s a total disgrace ..., " wrote the reader.

We visited the Ashtarak hospital to cover situation on the spot.

Hospital director Argishti Hovhannisyan rudely told us that he could not accept us because he was busy with more important things. "I will not admit you, I will not speak," said Hovhannisian, closing the door.

He then sent a staffer who told us to see him. Standing at the entrance to the reception, he said that he would say only one sentence: "Everything is normal. We are working normally."

Since the Ashtarak Medical Center is a provincial medical facility, we called the Aragatzotn Provincial Governor's Office to report what we had encountered directly to the governor.

An employee said the Governor Davit Gevorgyan was not in and advised us to apply to the provincial government’s Department of Health and Social Security. A department employee first inquired why we had visited the hospital and then, hearing our answer, said: "Everything is OK."

We insisted that we would like to receive clarifications from the hospital director on the spot. The employee said she would call us a little later.

After waiting forty minutes in the hospital yard and not receiving a call from the provincial government’s office, we decided to go to there and receive a response on the spot.

Before going to the office, we also called Prime Minister Pashinyan’s Press Secretary Mane Gevorgyan to fill her in. We clarified that we had received complaints from citizens, that we are going to write the article, and that we simply wanted to see the situation at the hospital for ourselves.

Gevoryan said she could not force the hospital director to speak to us, but recalling our earlier articles, she hinted that such coverage was inappropriate.

We were greeted at the entrance to provincial government’s office by a man wearing no protective gear.

The office staffers told us he was a watchman. The man had neither gloves nor a protective mask. He said that we couldn't move forward and that he would get a response from the Department of Health and Human Services and pass it on. "Well, you wait outside," said the guard.

Sometime later, the alleged guard approached and gave us the Department of Health and Social Security’s response: "They say that the Commandant has prohibited any photos of the hospital. You cannot go and photograph."

(The Commandant referred to here is the Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan, the head of the State of Emergency Command.)

To avoid any miscommunication, we asked that office staffers tell us about the ban. The guard said they would call and tell us.

After waiting thirty minutes in the courtyard, no one called. We again called the office. An employee, who did not identify herself, said that the department head should have called us.

"I’ll now tell him to call, if he is free," the staffer. It was around 3pm. So far, we have not received any calls from the Aragatzotn Provincial Government.

Hetq also contacted the national government’s press department to find out if there are restrictions placed on photographing, and why couldn't we photograph given that we had previously stated what we wanted to talk to the Ashtarak hospital’s director about and what we wanted to photograph (medical equipment, hospital wards).

The response from the national government was that while Commandant Avinyan had issued no such ban, we could not photograph.

 "Try again in a few days," the government said. They also hinted that the ban would extend to other hospitals as well.

Regarding medical institutions, Hetq wrote that the pulmonary X-ray machine had not been operating for more than 15 days at the Etchmiadzin Polyclinic. The unit was needed to examine the lungs of patients with suspected coronavirus. Both the administration of the polyclinic and the provincial authorities had not taken steps for weeks. It was only after our publication that it was decided to move the mobile X-ray machine from the Metzamor Medical Center to Etchmiadzin.

Given that we have seen such cases and given the complaints of citizens about the Ashtarak hospital, we wanted to let the public know what the true situation on the ground is.

However, officials at the highest levels, have prevented the publication of hospital information.

Such bans raise more doubts and concerns neither dispels them nor prevents the spread of panic.

Meanwhile, the State of Emergency Command urges the media to contact it for information on the coronavirus, expressing its readiness to assist in obtaining information.

Hetq’s last option is to contact Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan and suggest that he accompany our camera crew to the Ashtarak Medical Center, get acquainted with the reality on the ground and convey that information to the public.