Gov’t: no systemic lockdown for now, consultations needed
The government of Georgia is holding consultations with businesses, other actors, on coronavirus-related restrictions. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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The government of Georgia has announced that it will not place a systemic lockdown into effect today as Georgian media outlets had earlier reported.
Vice-PM Maia Tskitishvili says that the media reports were ‘wrong and misleading.’
No such decision has been made so far. To make the decision active consultations are needed and we are doing so with the business community and other actors,” Tskitishvili said.
She said that new restrictions may concern malls and more hours may be added to the curfew.
Tskitishvili said that malls may be closed for several working days.
Government says that the opposition rallies sparked the increase of coronavirus cases in Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
She stated that the government will exercise a ‘more effective control’ on wearing facemasks, as ‘it is one of the most effective measures to prevent the further spread of coronavirus.’
Tskitishvili said that the opposition’s election-related rallies sparked a surge in new infections.
The government would not have imposed restrictions during the rallies as it is part of democracy and is the constitutional right of people,” Tskitishvili said.
Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze stated that ‘indeed, rallies sparked the increase of coronavirus cases in Georgia.’
She stated that there is no need for now to open field hospitals as ordinary hospitals and hotels are able to admit the Covid-19 patients who need this.
Tikaradze said that more hospitals will admit the coronavirus patients in the coming days, adding that the country will have 12,000 beds for Covid-19 patients.
Georgia has reported 3,128 new cases of coronavirus, of which 1,504 were registered in the capital city of Tbilisi, 576 in the Black Sea Adjara region and 212 in the Imereti region.
Planned operations will be postponed until March 1, 2021 announced Georgian Health Minister Ekaterina Tikaradze. "We have had a number of cases where an individual who was not infected with Covid-19 went to the clinic for a specific operation and after the operation he/she was confirmed positive with the infection. Therefore, we decided to limit planned surgeries and postpone the delay until March 1," Tikaradze told local Imedi TV.
Georgia has reported 3,958 new cases of coronavirus, of which 2,157 were registered in the capital city of Tbilisi, 417 in the Black Sea Adjara region and 537 in the Imereti region. As for recoveries, 3,531 people recovered in the past 24 hours while the total number of recoveries has reached 89,170.
The country has reported 3,824 new cases of coronavirus, 3,851 recoveries and 33 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze says that many more people are infected with coronavirus in Georgia than official figures say this.
Georgia has reported 3,071 new cases of coronavirus, 3,366 recoveries and 34 deaths in the past 24 hours. 18,197 individuals remain infected with Covid-19 in Georgia as of today. Georgia has had 114,889 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. Since then 95,581 individuals have recovered, while 1,085 others have died. 6,145 patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals as of today. 886 of the 6,145 patients are in critical condition. 324 of the 886 critical patients are on artificial ventilation.
The government of Georgia has imposed further restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country. The restrictions that will be in effect between November 28 and January 31 are as follows: An effective curfew will be in force between the hours of 21:00 and 05:00. The restriction will be temporarily lifted on December 31 and January 6 (for New Year and Christmas). Restaurants and other food facilities will fully move to takeaway services which includes takeaway, delivery and drive.