Epidemiological situation in the tourist zones
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, August 20
The head of the National Center for Disease Control, Amiran Gamkrelidze stated at the briefing, which was held after the inter-agency coordination council that the visitors, as well as locals in Batumi, will be able to test for COVID-19 for free. Tents will be put up in Batumi Boulevard and voluntary testing will be available in order to determine whether the virus has spread around the Adjara region or not. Gamkreidze also noted that the COVID testing scale expands and from now on, the staff of tourist zone cafes, clubs, restaurants, and hotels will also be included in the testing organized for target groups.
On August 15th, an employee of Club Havana in Kobuleti tested positive for COVID-19. In the following two days, 4 of the infected person’s contacts also tested positive for the coronavirus. However, there is also a new case reported in Kobuleti which is not linked to the previous cases.
23 contacts of the new case have been quarantined and 40 samples have been taken. Epidemiological research is being implemented in order to determine the source.
According to the head of NCDC, a seroprevalence study is being carried out in 4 of Georgia’s regions. The study started on August 17th in Kobuleti, Khelvachauri, Mrtvili, and Borjomi Municipalities. As a result of the testing of 1200 people, researchers will determine if the tested people have already had coronavirus infection in the past. Gamkrelidze said that such studies reveal how the infection circulates.
As Gamrelidze states, there have not been any new coronavirus cases in the last 4 days in Mestia Municipality. Soon it will be 12 days since a quarantine was declared in Mestia, up to 700 people who are under quarantine or self-isolation will be tested for COVID-19. Zemo Svaneti was placed on lockdown on August 10th. The coordination council members have decided to open most of the administrative units of Zemo Svaneti on August 21st, however, Lendgeri and Mestia will still remain under lockdown.
According to Gamkrelidze, apart from Mestia, there are 3 more hotspots of the coronavirus infection. Kazbegi, Kobuleti, and Gardabani-Karajalari.
Out of 10 new coronavirus cases, 1 has been recorded in Lendjeri, 4 are contacts of the confirmed cases, 2 are imported and the source of 3 cases is unknown. There have been up to 10 cases since August 3, when the source of infection could not be identified. As of August 19th, there were a total of 1361 confirmed cases, 1098 have recovered, and 17 have died.
