The spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health Alina Nikoghosyan, referring to today’s interview of the Minister of Economy to the Public TV, wrote on her Facebook page:

“In connection with the issues rose during the interview of the RA Minister of Economy.

As we have already informed, the Ministry of Health has submitted to the government the draft decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia “On making changes in the decision No. 1514 of 11 September, 2020”, which proposes to extend the quarantine for 6 months.

First of all, I would like to emphasize that the extension of quarantine makes it possible to maintain the existing regulations by continuing to carry out measures such as wearing masks, requiring PCR test at border crossings, implementation of the activities of various organizations, including educational services, closed institutions (such as psychiatric institutions) in case of observance of sanitary-epidemiological safety rules, and other similar regulations.

Therefore, if the quarantine is not extended, the mentioned regulations will not work, it will not be possible to take such preventive measures.

This draft does not prohibit ANY type of economic activity, but sets requirements that reduce the risk of coronavirus infection in those organizations.

At present, when the epidemic situation for coronavirus in the world remains tense, when there are data on the emergence of new types of the virus, when a number of countries impose more severe quarantine, such as lockdown, given the sharp increase in deaths in their countries, When mass vaccination is not yet possible, it is clear that it is unacceptable not to take any action to promote the spread of the infection.

It should be reminded that so far more than 161 thousand cases with 2901 deaths have been registered in Armenia. According to some international estimates, the number of deaths in Armenia is expected to increase to 3930 by 1 April.

Minister Vahan Kerobyan also noted that the economy now needs oxygen the most. In recent months, people with coronavirus disease have had the greatest need for oxygen, which has been provided by the efforts of the Ministry of Health.

We are hopeful that the Ministry of Economy will spare no effort to provide the economy with oxygen without increasing the number of patients, as well as disrupting the supply of oxygen needed for their treatment.

“The proposal is still a draft, it has not been approved by the government, so the Ministry of Health is always ready to discuss any proposal, if it is reasonable, based on the best evidence-based policies available.”

Notably, today the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan gave an interview to the Public TV, in which he said that the Ministry of Economy is against extending the quarantine for 6 months ․

“In fact, the speaker of the Ministry of Health has hurried a little, because that decision was not discussed with the Ministry of Economy. It is not a decision, it is still a proposal, we will discuss it, and only in case of very weighty arguments we will be able to agree with some points of that draft. But the fact that the economy needs oxygen the most now is unequivocal. We must do everything to make the economy work as openly as possible,” the minister said.