Occupied Abkhazia forbids entry to non-Abkhaz allegedly to prevent spread of flu, coronavirus
Occupied Abkhazia restricts movement for non holders of ‘Abkhazian passports’, imposes quarantine due to new coronavirus. Photo: IPN.
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Georgia’s Russia-controlled region of Abkhazia has banned entry of non-Abkhaz at the so-called Enguri and Psou crossing points as of February 4, 2020, allegedly in an attempt to avoid the spread of seasonal viruses and the new China-born coronavirus, the chief medical officer of de-facto Abkhazia Lyudmila Storik told Sputnik.
Storik said that the the government has made the decision in order to protect the Abkhaz population from the new coronavirus ‘as the Health Ministry cannot diagnose the virus’.
There have been no recorded cases of the coronavirus in Georgia, though it has spread to 24 other states.
The new coronavirus, which is thought to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan, China, can spread from person to person.
The incubation period can range from two to 10 days, and causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms generally start with a fever followed by a dry cough.
Head of the Georgian National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze stated earlier today that the reagents arrived in Georgia at Kutaisi International Airport at 1 a.m. this morning.“We are very grateful to the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, with whom we have been cooperating closely over past several years, to make it possible for us to diagnose the new coronavirus in Tbilisi,” Gamkrelidze said.
Two Georgian citizens with flu symptoms who came to the country from China, have tested negative for the new coronavirus, head of the Georgian National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze stated earlier today, after receiving test results from the Netherlands.Georgia sent the blood samples of the patients to the Netherlands at the end of last week as at that time Georgia was unable to test people for the 2019-nCOV virus, which originated in the city of Wuhan of China at the end of 2019 and has already killed 425.
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvil ihas criticised the de-facto leadership of Georgia’s occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) for their decision to close the so-called border with the rest of Georgia to avoid the spread of H1N1 flu.
De facto leaderships of two Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have decided to close the so-called border with the rest of Georgia to “avoid the spread of H1NI,” the flu which has claimed 15 lives in Georgia.
The Russian occupation regime has banned movement from Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region to Tbilisi-controlled territory on October 2, reports the Georgian State Security Service (SSS).