Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, at a news briefing yesterday on the coronavirus situation in the country, sounded an optimistic note referring to the decreasing number of news cases but urged people to wear a mask, practice social distancing and regularly wash their hands to break the back of the virus.

“Based on last four or five days’ data, we can state that the number of new daily cases of infection has returned to the level of late May, the number of patients in serious condition is back to the level we had by the end of May, while the number of patients in critical condition is back to that of early June. This comparison is relative, of course, since regretfully the number of critical cases has diminished not only owing to treatment, but also due to the death toll. As of today, 723 coronavirus-caused fatalities have been recorded in Armenia,” Pashinyan said at the briefing attended by Deputy Prime Minister, State of Emergency Commandant Tigran Avinyan and Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan.

Pashinyan said that his government is closely following developments and that it is too early for any easing of restrictions.

“I would like to say that we discuss the possibility of easing the restrictions daily. In any case, once we see that there is such an objective possibility, we will avail ourselves of it,” Pashinyan said

Regarding the resumption of air travel, Pashinyan noted that it would not take place in August and called on citizens to spend their holidays in Armenia.  

Over the past 24 hours, 259 people have tested positive for the virus and five have died.

To date, 728 people in Armenia have died from Covid-19.