PM: State of Emergency Regime May Be Tightened

The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia has said he does not rule out an extension of the state of emergency in the country, as well as tightening the measures implemented within the emergency regime. 

The PM said that that the government would make a decision on tightening the state of emergency in Lentekhi, where a middle-aged man yesterday tested positive for coronavirus. 

Epidemiologists are working to identify all the people with whom he has been in contact and the source of the infection.

He noted that the government is monitoring the situation and may decide to tighten measures not for individual regions but throughout the country.

“We are waiting for the results of the final tests from the Lentekhi cluster. However, it should be noted that the number of regional clusters in the country is growing. This should be taken into account. We should also take into consideration that we may make a decision on tightening the measures in the whole country and not in some regions because we have serious clusters in Kobuleti, Marneuli and Bolnisi, now Lentekhi has appeared, as well as there being several cases in Samegrelo and Batumi. Let's see what the results will be by the end of the day," Gakharia said.

The Georgian government had said the state of emergency would last until April 21 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, the number of COVID-19 cases stands at 214 in the country. 

50 out of 214 people have recovered, while 3 have died.

By  Ana Dumbadze