Epidemiological situation escalates in Mestia, Kazbegi remains open

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Thursday, August 13

PM says if not for the government's prompt response, we would have witnessed the virus outbreak in Mestia.

In Georgia, a total of 1,278 people were confirmed with the coronavirus, with 1,058 recoveries, and 17 deaths. 16 of the infected are in critical condition.

The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia held the meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council, assessing the epidemiological situation in Mestia. As the head of the government noted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ensured the restriction of movement and the enforcement of the restrictions that the government had to impose.

According to the PM, these restrictions cause inconvenience to both locals and visiting tourists, but the health of citizens is of the highest value. He noted that 14 cases of infection have been exposed and 1000 tests have been brought to Svaneti, however, we don’t have a complete picture yet. As it was announced on the 11th of August, 4000 tests are planned to be taken in Svaneti.

“Without effective management of virus risks there will be no economic recovery,” Gakharia said.

According to the head of the government, 919 citizens were transferred from Svaneti to the quarantine zones yesterday. The PM called on the relevant agencies to ensure the efficiency of the management of quarantine areas.

“As of today, we have 7700 people in quarantine areas and even though the relevant agencies, the Ministry of Economy and the Tourism Agency are doing their best, the situation here is already quite tense,” the PM stressed.

He also noted that due to the principle of reciprocity, Georgia has opened the borders of several countries, as of today, 1,520 applications have already been received and more than 751 tourists are in the country at the moment.

As for the number of business visitors, according to the PM, their number exceeded 4,000 during this period.

"This does not mean that all these people are in Georgia now. However, for the economy not to cool down and for economic activities to intensify gradually, the direction of business visitors is extremely important," Gakharia said.

He also said that 54,205 drivers of international shipments were tested, of which 788 were confirmed to be infected.

“A new cluster is being formed, which is related to the Larsi customs,” Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Center for Disease Control, told journalists in Mestia municipality.

According to Gamkrelidze, 5 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed at the Larsi customs checkpoint. Under the leadership of Khatuna Zakhashvili, Head of the Department of Communicable Diseases of the National Center for Disease Control, the Larsi customs cluster contacts are being actively investigated.

Gakharia also commented on the Kazbegi cluster, saying in Kazbegi, as well as at the Larsi checkpoint, the epidemiological situation is fully under control and "there are some rumors in various media outlets that the government is also going to impose restrictions in Kazbegi, but there is no risk."

“I want everyone to know that if such a situation is created in several parts of the country, it will be impossible to prevent the disease,” said Paata Imnadze, Deputy Director of the National Center for Disease Control after the meeting of the Coordination Council.

He said the resource would not be enough if such surveys were to be needed simultaneously in individual municipalities.

Imnadze also called on citizens and businesses to follow all necessary regulations. There are already 30 confirmed cases from Lanjeri, he emphasized, 5 of which are family members and relatives who went to Tbilisi, the rest of the cases are confirmed in Svaneti itself.

According to Imnadze, the confirmed cases of infection in Kazbegi district did not have many contacts and at this stage, a study has been launched in the villages of Kazbegi.

To the question - will there be a need to tighten measures in Kazbegi district, the deputy head of the NCDC answers: “The difference in Kazbegi district is that it is a high-risk, professional group, these are our border guards who are in contact with the units and dozens of cases that enter the country daily,” he explained, adding that there are more than 110 infected trailer drivers in the country and many citizens are returning from Russia and among them, there are quite a lot of infected and all these people will pass these guards, hence they have a professional risk.