Corona Updates

On August 10, several COVID-19 cases were reported in the village of Lenjeri, Mestia Municipality, the illness thought to have been brought there by a man visiting his relatives. The spread was so wide that Georgian authorities decided to lock down the municipality, which included Ushguli and the town of Mestia, with those wishing to leave having to undergo a 14-day quarantine in the area or be transported to facilities on the coast.

The speedy move appeared effective, and the government this week announced that most villages in the area would be allowed to reopen as of Friday August 21.

“The decision was made at the session of the Interagency Coordination Council that all villages of the municipality will be opened from August 21, except Mestia and Lenjeri. Intensive testing will continue in these two villages and, based on the current situation, a relevant decision will be made," Aleksandre Khojevanishvili, the Deputy Head of the State Security Service of Georgia, announced.

More than 400 people have undergone thermal screening in Mestia Municipality so far.

"None of the examined citizens showed symptoms typical of coronavirus. The thermoscreening process is ongoing and covers the whole municipality," said Nino Vibliani, the Deputy Governor of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, adding that more than 700 people are in quarantine in Mestia Municipality, while almost the same number of people have been transferred to other regions to undergo mandatory quarantine.

On Wednesday, Georgia reported 10 new coronavirus cases, which brought the country’s total tally to 1361. Six more patients have recovered from the virus and with that, Georgia now has 1098 recoveries in total. The country currently has 246 active cases, and 17 fatalities related to the virus.

6903 individuals are in quarantine zones, and 278 are under hospital supervision. 41 Georgian citizens have been brought home from abroad for COVID treatment.

Of the 10 new cases, the sources of three infected individuals are unknown. In the 19 days of August, there have been up to 10 COVID cases that were registered without knowing the source of infection.