PM chairs another Coordination Council meeting
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, September 29
At the inter-agency coordination council meeting on September 28th, council members made a decision to reopen kindergartens and resume the education process in the auditoriums of higher and vocational education institutions. Members also discussed epidemiological conditions in the Adjara region as well as new recommendations for assessing the recovery status of asymptomatic individuals.
According to the decision of the Coordination Council, chaired by the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia, students of higher and vocational education institutions will be able to attend lectures in auditoriums from October 19th and from October 12th, kindergartens will reopen for pupils, however, these changes does not apply to the region of Adjara, where education process will continue remotely.
As for schools, according to the spread information, the education process will resume in classrooms for primary school students (grades 1-6) in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, and Zugdidi from October 1st, while the education process will be fully resumed (grades 1-12) in Gori and Poti.
Considering the epidemiological situation in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the ban on the public and intercity transport still remains in force, and restaurants are allowed to operate until 10 pm.
At the meeting, council members discussed new recommendations on assessing the recovery status of asymptomatic individuals. As the Government of Georgia informs, according to public healthcare experts, relevant recommendations in these terms have changed worldwide. In particular, according to the statements issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, individuals are practically unable to spread the infection after 8 days pass since the onset of symptoms, meaning that a test might give a positive result, however, an ability of the virus to infect other people is minimal and practically nonexistent. Thus, a person who was tested 12 days ago and no longer shows any symptoms of the virus, will be considered to have recovered from the infection.
As for the symptomatic patients, the minimum duration of hospitalization until recovery is 13 days, which includes ten days of exhibiting symptoms and three days of asymptomatic period.
As of September 28th, there are 5552 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in Georgia, 2055 patients have recovered and 31 persons have died. According to the epidemiologists, the situation is manageable so far and patients are being treated properly, however, detection of 200-500 cases daily is expected shortly.
