NGOs respond to worsened epidemiological situation in Tskhinvali region
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, October 20
Georgian NGOs published a statement responding to the worsened epidemiological situation in the Tskhinvali region. Tskhinvali reported 57 cases of COVID- 19 in just one day. They call on the government of Georgia to immediately strengthen negotiations with the de facto regime of Tskhinvali and use international political mechanisms to promptly restore freedom of movement and increase access to medical services.
According to the statement, the epidemiological situation in the Tskhinvali region has deteriorated, the number of infected people has increased and there are no more beds available in the Tskhinvali Hospital for infectious Diseases. According to the NGOs, hospitals of Tskhinvali experience a shortage of medicine and medical equipment, as well as medical staff whose number is insufficient to manage increased coronavirus cases. Considering the current situation, the de facto government has decided to modify children’s hospital into COVID hospital. The statement reads that according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), regardless of restriction on movement, on the ground of de facto authority’s consent, they still manage to transport patients to Tbilisi. As the representative of ICRC stated, since January 2020, they have managed to transport 60 patients to Tbilisi.
However, the statement mentions that the transportation of patients from Akhalgori to Tbilisi still presents a problem. On October 15th, another person, a Russian language teacher Vera Kotolova died since she was unable to receive timely care neither at Akhalgori nor Tskhinvali hospitals.
“De facto authority did not allow the patient to be transferred to Tbilisi and nor the relatives are allowed to attend the funeral. As it seems, the so-called government of Tskhinvali makes selective and corrupt decisions respecting the permission on movement. Unlawful and discriminative restriction on freedom of movement has resulted in the deaths of up to 20 individuals. Locals have been living in isolation and social crisis for more than a year. Restoration of freedom of movement in the village is requested by both Georgian and Ossetian people,” read the statement.
The NGOs call on the government of Georgia to: Conduct intensive negotiations with the de facto government of Tskhinvali region; allocate necessary medical resources to treat patients transported from Tskhinvali, including COVID patients; establish communication lines with a medical staff of Tskhinvali region to share the experience of managing and treating the infection; cooperate with international partners to mobilize medicines and additional medical equipment.
The statement is signed by Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center – EMC, Human Rights Center (HRC), Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), Democracy Research Institute (DRI).
