Coronavirus: Georgia Awaits Tightened Restrictions amid Increasing Number of Infections

The daily number of coronavirus cases and the death toll continue to rise in Georgia. However, health officials remain hopeful about the positive dynamics in terms of recovering people.

On Thursday, the country recorded 3697 new cases within the prior 24 hours. Since the detection of the first case, the total number of test-positive individuals infected with COVID-19 has reached 93,092.

2409 individuals recovered within the same 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 73,877, while 38 died.

Most of the new cases were detected in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi, which, unfortunately, still maintains the “leading” position in terms of high number of daily cases.

On Monday, Head of the National Center for Disease Control, Amiran Gamkrelidze, announced, as had the PM several times before him, that no complete lockdown was being considered in Georgia; however, serious restrictive measures were being negotiated.

Against the background of the alarming rise in the number of new cases of infections and the death toll, Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze is yet hopeful of a better year ahead in the battle against COVID-19.

Georgia’s Minister of Health, and an expert in medicine, economics and business management, said she believes a “turning point” will be reached next year in the battle against COVID-19.

Speaking at a specially convened panel at the 2020 gathering of the World Innovation Summit for Health, Dr. Ekaterine Tikaradze, said: “2021 will be a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both in the world and in Georgia. We have constant communication with the World Health Organization (WHO) and various international partners regarding the vaccine for COVID-19.

“Georgia is involved in the WHO Solidarity Research and works closely with the US and European centers for disease control and COVID management through its Clinical Management Team. For the first time, digital technologies will also be widely introduced in health care. All this gives us hope that next year, through vaccines, modern methods of treatment, and adherence to the rules of infection control by the population, it will be possible to defeat the pandemic.”

On November 17, one of the most experienced health officials in the country, General Director of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, was diagnosed with coronavirus.

"His condition is satisfactory. He has mild symptoms. Therefore, he does not need to be in hospital and is being treated at home," stated Hospital representatives.

November 16 was a memorable date with hopeful news. “A new vaccine that protects against Covid-19 is nearly 95% effective, early data from US company Moderna shows,” the BBC reported.

"The results come hot on the heels of similar results from Pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic," read the article by James Gallagher, health and science correspondent.

However, this is still early data and key questions remain unanswered. It is not yet known how long the effectiveness of the vaccine will last after vaccination, which is why further studies are needed.

For the record, last week, BioNTech and co-developers Pfizer said that preliminary analysis showed their vaccine could prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19.

About 43,000 people took part in the tests.

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By Ana Dumbadze