Time to Get Your Hair Cut: Gov’t Lifts More Restrictions

As the spread of COVID-19 appears to be slowing, the Georgian government is pushing ahead (and ahead of) it’s planned 6-steps to recover the Georgian economy, by relaxing even more of the lockdown restrictions.

MEETING FRIENDS

Though the nightly 9pm-6am curfew is to remain in force, as is our inability to travel more than three to a car, in other areas, normality is being allowed to creep back in.

"We made the decision to raise the restriction on the gathering of more than three people both indoors and outdoors to a maximum of ten,” Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said at the government meeting. “However, this does not mean that the restriction on the presence of three people per car will also be lifted. This restriction has an important epidemiological explanation; our doctors have convinced us of this. The recommendations of professionals in the fight against the pandemic are critically important.”

GETTING THAT MUCH-NEEDED HAIRCUT

From May 18, beauty salons and aesthetic centers will be reopened, as will the quarantine zone in Marneuli municipality. Marneuli municipality in eastern Georgia has been on lockdown since March 23, after a local woman tested positive for COVID-19 and was in contact with dozens of people.

OPENING BORDERS

"Georgia should become one of the first countries able to open its borders and receive guests,” Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said at a government meeting.

He noted that successful negotiations are underway with a number of countries on this issue, particularly with the Czech Republic, Poland, the Baltic states, Austria and Georgia’s neighboring countries.

"Today, we can say that we are in successful negotiations with several countries in this direction. The first such country seems to be Israel, with which we will have a safe green corridor and which will provide an opportunity for Georgia to welcome tourists soon. Of course, we will do our best to host them in a way that suits our country while taking care of their health," the PM emphasized.

In Georgia, the State of Emergency is to be ongoing until May 22. However, state officials claim that if COVID-19 cases continue to shrink, the country will be able to return to a normal course and speed up the process of lifting restrictions.

Currently, there are 257 active cases in the country.

By Ana Dumbadze