Facemasks become mandatory outdoors, govt prohibits holding social events
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, August 10
Per the decision of the Inter-Agency Coordination Council, wearing facemasks outdoors becomes mandatory if five or more people gather starting August 10. Facemasks are also mandatory at public gathering areas, such as bus stops and markets. The decision was made amid the worsened epidemiological situation. According to Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia, if the rate of facemask use, which currently stands at 51%, increases to 90%, the daily cases will be reduced by at least 1,000 units.
As the press service of the Government Administration reports, restriction prohibiting nightclubs from operation in open and closed spaces remains in force. The government will also strictly control the enforcement of acting regulations in food facilities, which are not allowed to operate between 00:00-05:00.
According to the government’s decree, organizing crowded social events such as weddings, anniversaries, funeral services is banned starting today. For hosting such events, food facilities will be fined GEL 10,000 for the first time, and in case of the repeated violation, the relevant facility will be closed down.
On July 26, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili announced that the economy would no longer withstand another lockdown, therefore, the government would start managing the epidemiological situation instead of introducing restrictions. A couple of days ago, PM stressed that another lockdown in Georgia would be ‘absolutley unjustified’ as the country had imported more than two million doses of coronavirus vaccine. He urged everyone to vaccinate, underscoring that defeating the virus is only possible through vaccination. So far, 197,118 people are fully vaccinated in Georgia.
As Minister of Economy Natia Turnava has announced, there will not be any decision to have sectoral, targeted restrictions or closure of any sector. According to her, due to the lockdowns there was a 6% decrease in the economy last year, however, she claims that the government will not follow the same path this time as the country has secured a sufficient number of vaccines.
Since the first detection, Georgia has recorded 450 149 cases of COVID, out of which 403 762 individuals have recovered and 6 128 died. As of yesterday, there were 2 236 new coronavirus cases, 3 146 recoveries, and 44 deaths with Georgian capital Tbilisi recording the highest number of 946 Covid-19 cases, followed by the Adjara region with 499 cases, and the Imereti region with 177 cases. The daily test-positivity rate stands at 9, 54 %.
