PM: We Must Hinder Spread of Virus & Learn to Coexist with It through Discipline
"Certain changes have been made to the area of clinical management at this stage, given the situation and the common experience and knowledge that we have accumulated with regard to the management of the virus. Different stages of treatment have become unequivocally necessary. This means treatment at home and at COVID hotels and, of course, the treatment of severe cases in hospitals," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated at today's session of the government.
He noted that the new scheme of clinical treatment, which was prepared over the last four months, entails the treatment of severe cases (including persons in at-risk groups, those with chronic diseases, and citizens over the age of 65) exclusively in hospitals while treating relatively mild cases of infection which do not require round-the-clock medical care, at COVID hotels, and treating generally mild or asymptomatic cases at home.
The head of the government noted that the primary healthcare system has been retrained to operate in accordance with the new scheme of clinical treatment.
"This system, the new scheme of clinical treatment that was prepared over the last four months, has already been launched in Adjara and is operating effectively. In general, the Ministry of Healthcare is in full control of clinical management and they do it quite effectively across the country. This was quite evident in Adjara as well," the Prime Minister stated.
Gakharia emphasized the fact that it is important for citizens to quickly return to economic life and to learn to coexist with the virus.
"The quick return of our citizens to a normal life means that recovered citizens must quickly return to active economic life. Active economic life and the retention of jobs was precisely the main reason why we quickly started lifting the restrictions gradually and cautiously, though this was done quite rapidly compared to others. We must remember one thing – the virus has not gone anywhere, the virus is with us and when we say that we are at the stage of adaptation this means that we must learn to coexist with the virus. This, in turn, entails the observance of simple rules. We must wear face masks, follow the basic rules of hygiene, and maintain distance. The more disciplined we are in terms of meeting these requirements, the lower the prevalence of the disease will be, which, in turn, will reduce the pressure on the economy and the healthcare system. Here too, at the stage of adaptation and management, we must be as disciplined as possible in order to buy some time before a vaccine is created globally. We must not have the illusion that any state taken separately, including Georgia, will be able to defeat the virus," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
He noted that we must hinder the spread of the virus with strict rules and discipline, rather than by imposing strict restrictions and stopping the economy.
"I would like to stress that when we decided to declare the state of emergency and impose strict restrictions, naturally, we took into account the situation in the country in terms of resources as well as the state of the healthcare system. The Georgian healthcare system is relatively weak compared to the healthcare systems of many developed countries. However, in this case, it handled this challenge quite well. We must not entertain the illusion that the healthcare system has changed radically in six months. We must be prepared to hinder the spread of the virus by strictly adhering to the rules and maintaining discipline, by following basic rules, wearing face masks, and maintaining distance, rather than by imposing restrictions and stopping the economy. Any restriction that could theoretically be imposed would be strictly targeted and local. No systemic restrictions will be imposed across the country, there cannot be any systemic restrictions that affect such areas of our lives as the economy, education, or even the political process, the election process," the Prime Minister stated.