91 cases of coronavirus reported in Georgia, gov’t adopts new regulations
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, March 30
The novel Coronavirus, that spread from the Wuhan region of China, has already caused a lot of damage to the world economy. Many experts are saying that it will be very hard to come out of the situation without massive problems.
Every field of the economy received its part of damage from the virus. However, the most affected fields were the ones that strongly depend on tourism. Many hotels, restaurants, bars, and clubs are closed to prevent the spread of the virus. Because of the huge damage to the economy, experts are saying that some companies will go out of business.
For countries like Georgia, where the economy is mostly dependent on the tourism sector, the virus will have an especially difficult outcome. It can already be seen with the national currency, which has hit a record breaking low.
Even though the National Bank of Georgia was able to keep the price of GEL stable, experts are saying that the freefall will continue as the measures are simply not enough to keep the price stable. However, it’s not only GEL that is experiencing a freefall; there are many other currencies severely damaged.
Even cryptocurrencies have received their share of the damage. Some experts claim that the Coronavirus has nothing to do with the price of Bitcoin, while many others believe the opposite.
No matter the reason, it is clear that the currency’s ‘safe haven’ status is under threat. After all, it has been said that Bitcoin was initially created so that it could remain stable in these kinds of situations.
The Economy Minister of Georgia Natia Turnava said many times that the country is prepared for a crisis. According to her, there are many top-level hotels in Georgia that gave the government the chance to use their rooms as quarantine facilities.
As announced by the Prime Minister, every citizen of Georgia who is returning to the country should be quarantined for 14 days.
Another field that was affected by the Coronavirus is the tourism sector, namely airlines, with most of them having canceled their flights due to the restrictions. As hundreds of people are left without jobs, it is unclear how the situation will develop.
Currently, there are more 680,000 people infected with the virus in the world, of which, more than 30,000 have died.
In Georgia, the numbers are relatively low. However, government leaders and other professionals are saying that the numbers could skyrocket at any time. As of now, no one has died in Georgia from the Coronavirus. There are 91 cases of coronavirus reported in the country as of March 29th. Out of the 91, who were infected, 18 have recovered.
