Most cases of coronavirus infection are reported in Yerevan, but the infection is also widespread in the regions.

Iravaban.net talked to the governors of the regions, finding out how many cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the regions according to the latest data, what social problems the regional residents are facing these days in the state of emergency and the stage of solving the problems of distance education.

Deputy Governor of Syunik Narek Babayan told Iravaban.net that there have been no new cases confirmed in the region since 3 April, and before 3 April there were 25 confirmed cases, 10 of which have already been healed. “As of 17 April, the double test of all patients with coronavirus in the region was negative. All the infected people recovered and were discharged from the hospital.”

He noted that due to the decision of the Commandant, there will be small enterprises in the region, which will start working. “We have 3 large factories, which have been working by the decision of the Commandant until now. The relevant inspection bodies regularly carried out inspections and we had a case when the work of one of the factories was suspended for 6 hours. Of course, the enterprises will work under the control of our relevant bodies, and if violations are registered, they will be held accountable.”

By the Commandant’s decision of 14 April, it was allowed to change the places of self-isolation. “We have students from Syunik in Yerevan who were in Yerevan before the extension of the state of emergency and were waiting for the resumption of possible classes, but now they will return to the region.”

As for the support measures adopted by the Government, the Deputy Governor noted, “At the moment, I cannot say how many families will benefit from the government’s support. There are many questions from the population about how they can be included in the support programs provided by the government. At the moment, I cannot say how many families will benefit, but we have tried to do everything possible to help the families who need it the most, both with food and supplies.”

Touching upon the number of equipment provided to the region for distance education, the Deputy Governor of Syunik noted that in the first stage 56 tablets were provided to the region, which were provided to families with more than 3 schoolchildren who were left out of distance education. “In the first stage we were able to solve the problem of 146 children, in the second stage we were provided with 40 tablets and they are already provided to the families where there are more than 2 school-age children. After the first stage, we had 500 children who were left out, but in this second stage we will solve the problems of those children as well. ”

He added that there were benefactors who provided computers. “I can say that 95% of the problem in the region has been solved.”

The Assistant to the Governor of Ararat region Tigran Shirinyan mentioned that everything in the region is controlled and done according to the instructions of the Commandant. According to the data of 16 April, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Ararat region is 210. 61 citizens have recovered, 145 people are actually being treated, in total, 4 deaths have been registered.

We also talked to Shirak Governor Tigran Petrosyan, who informed that two citizens from the region are receiving treatment in Yerevan, and 11 citizens in Gyumri Infectious Diseases Hospital.

Speaking about the problems caused by the situation in the region, he noted that the main problems are social. “Unfortunately, our region has always been socially vulnerable, and at this stage a new volume of vulnerability has emerged. Of course, the volume of government support programs in our region is quite large at the moment that is why we are trying to find proportionate solutions.”

According to the Governor of Shirak, during this period, private and non-governmental organizations, within their capabilities, also supported distance education in the region. “We had 150 netbooks that we received from “Shirak” football club and 85 from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. We receive the lists from the schools, and at the moment our main targets are the families where there are more than 3 school-age children. ”

The Governor of Aragatsotn Davit Gevorgyan mentioned that they do not publish daily data to avoid unnecessary panic situation. “We had a positive results to 27 tests in the region, and 7 of them have recovered during this period. As of 16 April, there are 20 active cases. ”

He informs that they are in daily contact with the self-isolated citizens, and if one of them changes the place of isolation, they will definitely be informed about it.

As for the elimination of restrictions on some businesses by the decision of the Commandant, Davit Gevorgyan mentioned that there will be businesses that will restart their activities.

First of all, we are talking about construction companies. “The work on eliminating the shortcomings of the road construction programs will start soon, as there are organizations that have pledged to eliminate the shortcomings, and as soon as the restrictions on them are removed, they will start carrying out those works.” Together with employers, we must ensure that all the necessary rules are followed: social distance, use of protective equipment, etc.”

According to the governor of Aragatsotn, the economic entities whose work was allowed – supermarkets, grocery stores continued their activities during the whole period. “Very often citizens complain that not all the rules are observed in many places. I would like to emphasize once again that the observance of those rules depends on each of us. The government cannot be everywhere, everyone must feel that responsibility, to the delight of all of us, I can say that I highly appreciate the level of self-responsibility in our region,” David Gevorgyan said.

The main problems in the region are the same, and it is not a secret that social problems have always existed․ “At this stage, we have a special problem, which is to separate the social problems caused by the coronavirus from the problems that existed before. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the flow of applications, letters and requests for assistance has increased tenfold, and it is clear that our resources are limited, so we give priority to citizens with social problems caused by the virus.”

To date, 81 devices have been provided to the region to solve problems related to distance education: 53 computers, 14 laptops, 9 phones and 5 netbooks, but in the near future a certain batch will be provided as well.

The region where only one case of coronavirus has been registered as of 17 April is Gegharkunik, Deputy Governor Narek Grigoryan talked to us.

He informed that the economic entities that will resume their activities by the decision of the Commandant, will be under the direct control of the regional administration in order to prevent the spread of the infection.

“There are a lot of applications, we try to respond to everyone to avoid the situation where a family in a worst situation does not receives a support while another family with less problems receives. Many donations came to our region, which were naturally distributed to the socially vulnerable families, which is continuous. The latest was when about 100 families from the border communities were provided with assistance,” the Deputy Governor said.

In Gegharkunik, 2,000 schoolchildren had problems with distance education, a part of them have already been provided with computers. “Some still have the problem, but we are trying to get computers to finally solve the problem.”