Coronavirus Hits Georgia

Of all the continents, Antarctica now is the only one not affected by the novel coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China, in December. Now, more new cases of the virus are being reported outside of China than within its territories, with at least 44 countries reporting confirmed cases of Covid-2019.

On Tuesday, we reported the disease had spread to the Middle East and was bubbling up in Italy as the death toll and overall number of infected continued to grow. However, there had been no cases of coronavirus infection reported or confirmed in Georgia. Well, if there’s anything to take from the coronavirus it’s this: a lifetime of things can change in a day: on the evening of February 26, the first case of coronavirus was reported in Georgia. The infected is a man of 50, a Georgian citizen who travelled from Iran to Georgia through Azerbaijan by land, and caught the virus there. The man is now being treated in the Tbilisi Infections Hospital, is isolated and is reported to be in a satisfactory condition. 10 others are being carefully watched at the Hospital, five of whom travelled from Italy, and five who came from Iran. No other cases but that one have been confirmed in Georgia as yet.

However, one case was enough to send chills of panic into the majority of the Georgian population. The information about coronavirus entering the country spread like the disease itself: fast. Just 30 minutes after the coronavirus case was announced, many rushed to pharmacies and shops to purchase face masks and stock up for the “coming apocalypse”, though the authorities repeated numerous times that there was no reason to panic. It didn’t take long for the pharmacies to go short of face masks. It was reported that on Pekini Street in Tbilisi, only one 24/7 pharmacy had face masks to sell roughly 40 minutes after Tikaradze made the announcement. Since the lines were only getting longer, the pharmacist was told to set a limit of 10 masks per customer, each costing 0.95 GEL.

As Georgia joined the rest of the world in the shortage of masks, at a special briefing on Wednesday night, the Health Ministry assured people that it would help pharmacies to import face masks since the demand had increased so dramatically.

On Thursday morning, the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia followed up on its the promise. The ministry reported that it had ordered producers and importers to fill up their stocks of medical face masks immediately. However, they couldn’t say when the shortage would be filled. They also called on the companies to sell masks at the appropriate prices. It has been highlighted by many that masks should only be worn by those coming down with flu-like symptoms, not by those seeking to be protected from the virus.

At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze once again assured the population that panic was not necessary, as the chances of a widespread outbreak in the country had been reduced by the timely detection of the virus.

“We continue our coordinated work. We have enough places to quarantine citizens who were in close contact with the infected and those coming from high-risk areas. We check they are in good health. There are several hospitals mobilized in Tbilisi, as well as in Kutaisi and Batumi. I assure our citizens that at this stage there is no risk of a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus in Georgia. We will continue to work twenty-four hours a day,” the Minister said.

She added that 13 patients, who are not infected with the virus, were taken to a quarantine zone from Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital.

On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia also tried to ease Georgia’s anxiety, saying that there was no reason to panic, and that the relevant agencies were controlling the situation.

“The first case of coronavirus was reported in the country yesterday. First of all, I want to emphasize that we have no reason to panic. The Ministry of Health, relevant agencies, and the Interagency Coordination Council are fully controling the situation. We should all follow the WHO recommendations.

"I would also like to say that the work of the Interagency Coordination Council, which was established on January 28, is still in progress. Thanks to the effective work of this Council, it was possible to report the first case of the virus at the border, without his coming into direct contact with our citizens. We have to thank each and every employee of the Ministry of Health, as well as the border guards and customs officials,” said PM Gakharia.

On Wednesday night, the Georgian government followed up on its restriction of flights from Iran by limiting land traffic between the two countries after the coronavirus case was confirmed in Georgia. Turkey, Armenia, and Pakistan, who are all neighboring countries of Iran, sealed their borders late on Sunday.

“At the meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council, the Prime Minister listened to representatives of all agencies about the current and planned measures to prevent the spread of the virus,” the PM’s press office reported on Wednesday. "A decision was made to restrict entry from Iran by vehicles, along with air traffic. The Iranian side has already been informed through the relevant channels”.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia on Thursday said it sees no sufficient grounds for closing Georgian schools in the face of the novel coronavirus, considering such measures disproportionate to the actual threat. Instead, it is tightening sanitary standards in schools to ensure effective prevention and risk management

“The process of monitoring schools through local educational resource centers will become more intense so as to avoid any complications,” the head of the General Education Department, Ekaterine Khutsishvili. said.

The Ministry has once again called on the school administration to ensure properly maintained hygiene in schools, for which it issued a number of conditions.

After the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Georgia was announced, there was a rush of customers to hypermarkets throughout the country, especially in the capital city of Tbilisi. Despite the fact that no quarantine has been announced, citizens have begun mass-buying products with a long shelf life, such as cereals, flour, honey, salt, and sugar.

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to representatives of AgroHub, Goodwill and Carrefour, each of whom confirmed that though there had been an increase in customers and purchases, there is no current risk of food shortages.

Georgia is not the only country to announce its first case of the novel coronavirus. The disease also hit Estonia, Brazil and Norway for the first time this week. The death toll in Italy and Iran continues to increase. South Korea on Wednesday said the 11th person had died of the disease there. Globally, over 80,000 people had been diagnosed with the illness, as of February 27. The most recent data reports that 78,497 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in China, while 2744 have died from contracting it. Outside of China, in at least 44 countries, at least 3225 people have been infected and 57 patients have died.