The Washington Times: Coronavirus Success Story: The Nation of Georgia

The Washington Times, American daily newspaper, is yet another leading international edition that has praised Georgia's efforts in the fight against the new coronavirus. 

On April 22, the Washington Times published an article, written by Tim Constantine, in which the author claims that coronavirus continues to ravage the globe with more than 2.6 million confirmed cases worldwide and closing in on 200,000 deaths.

Some locations have suffered far worse than others. Italy has seen 25,000 deaths. Spain has suffered 22,000 deaths, France has 21,000 and the United States, with the world’s third largest population, has lost 46,000 and counting.

However, there are countries that cope with this challenge with unexpected success. 

"What seems to have escaped world media attention however is that the fight against COVID-19 has success stories as well, perhaps none more impressive than the country of Georgia. Sandwiched in between Russia and Turkey, Georgia has a population of 3.75 million people," reads the article. 

The author notes that at the time this column was submitted for publishing, Georgia had only five deaths from coronavirus (the number has not changed since then). 

"How is this possible?" Tim asks, finding answers to this question by interviewing Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister Maya Tskitishvili, who also serves as the minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure.

When asked what has made things different in her country than so many places around the globe Ms. Tskitishvili said there were multiple things. “We have addressed this challenge by taking it seriously from the very beginning. First, it was very early when we made decisions, second was our careful listening to our health care professionals.” When communicating with the public, “We were quite attentive and very clear and consistent in the corona locations.” She says the most important pieces may be “the things we were doing all together - the whole population of Georgia.” The vice prime minister points out the officials in charge of the government response were very responsive and Georgia’s people listened. “We have very responsible citizens and with that mutual accord we managed to really stand ready to cope with the virus.”

The Georgian people may be better prepared to deal with an unexpected challenge and to listen to their government than the populations of many countries. The last two generations of Georgians have faced multiple conflicts and difficulties, both internally and from outside forces.

In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union had been dissolved, Georgia was a newly independent nation. Not long after their first leader was elected, civil war broke out. The fallout impacted the entire nation. In 2008, five days of war exploded between Georgia and Russia. To say the people of Georgia are responsive and resilient to the unexpected would be an understatement. Ms. Tskitishvili summarizes, “Georgia has been through difficult times so the need to live and adapt in difficult times, of course, makes us more united, makes us stronger.”

Ms. Tskitishvili gives some of the credit for Georgia’s successful battle against coronavirus to the United States. The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency has worked hand in hand with Georgia on preparedness training for radiological, nuclear, biological and other threats. She says that training has played a role in Georgia’s reaction. “We’ve been feeling help and support from the US for many years, almost 30 years. The training the US Defense Threat Agency provided helped us to be more prepared for the coronavirus. The people they trained are health care professionals. They are very well trained and respected. The Lugar Center, through our national center for disease control, was trained by the US. (They) were the national frontrunners in the battle against the coronavirus.”

"The vice prime minister is clearly proud of her national team," the author of the article concludes, further discussing examples of the country's successful steps in terms of economy and healthcare sector. 

Read the full article here 

Author: Tim Constantine

Source: The Washington Times 

Image: Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister Maya Tskitishvili

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