YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenia’s health authorities reported a record 57 deaths from COVID-19 on October 26 after months of steady increases in coronavirus infections in the country of about 3 million.
It is the highest number of single-day fatalities recorded by them since the start of the pandemic. The official death toll from the disease thus rose to 6,112.
The figure does not include 1,263 other infected people who the Armenian Ministry of Health says have died as a result of other, chronic conditions. The ministry reported two such deaths on Tuesday morning.
The coronavirus has killed at least 334 Armenians in the past week alone. The daily number of new coronavirus cases also reached new highs during that period.
Medical centers across the country carried out almost 12,000 coronavirus tests on Monday and about 13 percent of them came back positive. Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan warned on October 24 that Armenian hospitals are “on the verge” of running out of vacant beds for COVID-19 patients.
Her ministry has already reported a shortage of beds more than a week ago. It said hundreds of infected people in need of urgent care are awaiting hospitalization because of that.
