This article needs to be updated. (May 2021) |
The COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Armenia on 1 March 2020 when its first case was reported. It has spread to all of the regions (marz) of Armenia and has caused 4,400 deaths (not including 1,077 more deaths as a result of "other reasons").
| COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia | |
|---|---|
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Armenia |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China[1][2] |
| Index case | Yerevan |
| Arrival date | 1 March 2020 (4 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) |
| Confirmed cases | 453,040[3] |
| Recovered | 211,634 |
Deaths | 8,779[3] |
| Vaccinations | |
| Government website | |
| A Unified Information Platform for Combating Coronavirus National Center for Disease Control and Prevention | |
Armenia has suspended visa-free travel for Chinese citizens since 1 February, shortly after it implemented a 90-day visa-free regime on 19 January. Citizens of Iran can no longer receive a visa on arrival either. Additionally, passengers who have been to most of Europe, as well as South Korea and Japan, within the past 14 days, are no longer allowed to enter Armenia.[4] The border of Armenia with the Republic of Artsakh has also been closed in order to prevent the virus from spreading to the unrecognized republic (which "de facto" proclaimed its independence in a nationwide referendum on 10 December 1992).
Before the virus was confirmed to have arrived in Armenia, 118 tests were performed in February with negative results. To date, Armenia is reported to have performed 1,065,211 tests, of which 222,139 were positive.[5]
Background
editOn 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[6][7]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[8][9] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[10][8]
Timeline
edit
March 2020
editOn 1 March, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed the reports on his Facebook page that the COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Armenia.[11][12]
On 16 March, Government declared a state of emergency lasting until 14 April to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The emergency measures included the closure of all educational institutions, closing the borders with Georgia and Iran, banning gatherings with over 20 people, and postponing the 2020 Armenian constitutional referendum.[13]
As of 18 March, in addition to 799 people in self-isolation, there were 444 people in quarantine, gathered in the Golden Palace Hotel of Tsaghkadzor and the Monte Melkonian Military College of Dilijan.[14]
On 21 March, Armenia's Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said they have over 600 in quarantine in different regions of Armenia. He added that Armenia's capacity for quarantining people is nearing its limit, and that people should already resort to self-isolation as a preventative measure. Of the confirmed cases, 133 were linked to the clusters of cases from Ejmiatsin and a sewing factory in Yerevan.[14]
As of 24 March, there are 235 confirmed cases. 26 patients have pneumonia, 6 of whom are in intensive care, though they are not intubated (not on artificial respirators), and are under constant supervision.[14]
On 26 March, Armenia's Health Ministry announced the country's first death from COVID-19. The patient was a 72-year-old male Armenian citizen with multiple pre-existing conditions.[15]
April 2020
editOn 1 April, Armenia reported its 4th death.[16]
On 6 April, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia would start to produce COVID-19 tests at the Institute of Molecular Biology.[17]
On 7 April, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. The person had returned from Armenia to Mirik village of the Kashatagh Province, 39 km from Berdzor and 89 km from Stepanakert and was taken by ambulance to the Kashatagh medical center on the morning of 2 April. All 17 people who had been in contact with this person, none of whom had symptoms, had self-isolated in advance for safety reasons.[18]
May 2020
editOn 4 May, the national stay-at-home order was partially lifted and non-essential businesses were allowed to reopen, provided that the businesses require customers wear masks and limit the number of customers inside stores and restaurants.[19]
On 14 May, the country's state of emergency was extended until 13 June. However, preschools, shopping centres, and gyms reopened and public transport resumed starting from 18 May.[20]
June 2020
editOn 1 June, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.[21]
July to December 2020
editModel-based simulations suggest that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t was lower than 1.0 in July and August, above 1.0 in September and October, and around 1.0 in November.[22] In September, the Armenian Government decided to impose a covid related quarantine, which is still in place.[23]
July 2021
editIn July 2021, the Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesian announced Armenia would be able to purchase 300'000 doses of the Novavax and 50'000 doses of the Janssen vaccine.[24] Armenia used to provide vaccines to the people for free, Armenians and non Armenians alike. This encouraged many Iranians to cross to Armenia to get vaccinated, following which Armenia imposed restrictions on vaccines for non-residents.[25]
Statistics
editNew cases per day
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Deaths per day
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Recoveries per day
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Aid
editInternational aid
editThe countries and international organizations that have sent aid and funds to the Government of Armenia, to help fight the pandemic, includes:
Canada: Canada provided Armenia with a $260,000 funding package to assist with COVID-19.[26]
China: On 8 April 2020, a batch of humanitarian aid including disposable surgical masks, protection suits, and ventilators from China arrived in Armenia.[27]
European Union: The EU has provided 92 million euros in aid to Armenia. In addition, the EU has supplied Armenia with 6,000 gloves, 2,300 medical masks, and provided over 3000 vulnerable citizens with care packages.[28]
Russia: In April 2020, the Russian military sent a team of medics and special equipment to Armenia to help authorities detect and prevent coronavirus cases among Armenian and Russian military personnel serving in the country. The equipment included a coronavirus testing lab and a sample collection system.[29]
Serbia: On 18 and 19 June, Serbia sent two planes with medical aid to Armenia, containing 10 artificial respiration devices, 10 monitors monitoring the patient's condition, 500,000 surgical masks, 100,000 breathing masks, 25,000 protective glasses, 25,000 medical protective clothing and other necessary items.[30]
United States: The United States has provided 2.7 million dollars to help strengthen laboratory capacity, improve management of severe cases, and support community level preparedness planning in Armenia. The US has also provided 1.2 million dollars to address the economic impacts of COVID-19, 1.8 million dollars for community-based social work, and an additional $200,000 to civil society and independent media organizations.[31]
References
edit- ^ "Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)". who.int. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
- ^ Sheikh, Knvul; Rabin, Roni Caryn (10 March 2020). "The Coronavirus: What Scientists Have Learned So Far". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Mathieu, Edouard; Ritchie, Hannah; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Dattani, Saloni; Beltekian, Diana; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "IATA - International Travel Document News". www.iatatravelcentre.com.
- ^ "Հաստատված դեպքերն ըստ օրերի — NCDC Armenia" (in Armenian). Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ "First Case of Coronavirus Confirmed in Armenia". Asbarez.com. 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Armenia reports first coronavirus infection". Reuters. 1 March 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Armenia declares one-month state of emergency for coronavirus". Reuters. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "COVID-19: Updates From Armenia". EVN Report. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Ghazanchyan, S. (1 April 2020). "Armenia reports 4th coronavirus-related death". Public Radio of Armenia. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ "PM: Armenia to start production of COVID-19 tests". news.am. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "First coronavirus case reported in Karabakh". 14 October 2023.
- ^ Elliot, Raffi (4 May 2020). "Armenia enters "new phase" of COVID-19 pandemic response as businesses reopen". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ "COVID-19: Armenian Government Approves Extending State Of Emergency". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "Armenian PM Pashinyan tests positive for coronavirus". Reuters. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ Future scenarios of the healthcare burden of COVID-19 in low- or middle-income countries, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London.
- ^ Ghazanchyan, Siranush (9 July 2021). "Armenia to extend Covid-related quarantine for another six months". Public Radio of Armenia.
- ^ Harutunyan, Aneta (9 July 2021). "COVID-19: Armenia to acquire Johnson & Johnson's and Novavax vaccines in autumn". armenpress.am. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ Ghalechian, Narine (9 July 2021). "Armenia To Buy American COVID-19 Vaccines". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան (in Armenian). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ "Canada Allocates $260,000 For COVID-19 Assistance to Armenia". torontohye.ca. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Chinese medical supplies arrive in Yerevan, Armenia". xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ "EU STANDS BY ARMENIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC" (PDF). europa.eu. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ ռ/կ, Ազատություն (June 2020). "Russia Offers To Help Armenia Fight COVID-19 Pandemic". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» Ռադիոկայան. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Second Air Serbia flight carries humanitarian aid to Armenia". armradio. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "U.S. ASSISTANCE to ARMENIA on COVID-19" (PDF). usembassy.am. Retrieved 17 May 2021.