Armenia Again Extends State of Emergency as COVID-19 Spread Worsens

According to an Armenian government statement, Germany’s government has organized the mission in collaboration with two European charities and the World Health Organization. The mission is part of a broader EU scheme designed to help partner countries contain the spread of the virus.

Similar medical teams have also been sent to Armenia by France, Russia, Lithuania and Italy over the past month. They were deployed to local hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

The EU Delegation in Yerevan announced that the German government will also provide coronavirus-related financial aid to Armenia. “Germany will be allocating 2.75 million euros ($3.1 million) for a project addressing COVID-19 in Armenia through research cooperation in order to establish medium to long-term systemic, integrated risk management,” the delegation said in a statement.

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan spoke of a “slight positive dynamic” in the coronavirus crisis, saying that in recent days there have been fewer infected people awaiting hospitalization at home. But he cautioned that virtually intensive care hospital beds remain occupied by COVID-19 patients.

Fresh figures also revealed that 232 more people have recovered, eight patients have died from COVID-19, while one person carrying the virus has died from other causes.

A total of 135,687 tests have been performed since the beginning of the outbreak in the country, the National Center For Disease Control and Prevention said.

(Stories from Reuters, Panarmenian.net and RFE/RL were used to compile this report.)