Cases of Acute Respiratory Infections Decrease in Armenia; No Need to Close Schools, Says Torosyan

During a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly today, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan urged against calls for class boycotts.  “Every day, we assess the situation and the numbers in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport to decide whether there is a need to suspend classes or not. As of today, I reaffirm that there is no need. Moreover, most of these absences are simply preventive. That is, they are not sick but are staying home to avoid getting sick,” said Torosyan.

He also mentioned that the health ministry calls on parents to keep ill children at home. Children are checked at the school entrance, and if any symptoms are detected, they are sent home.  “Today, we sent 1,300 children home; the incidence of acute respiratory infections in preschool institutions and schools is 5.8 percent. There may have been classes where absences were as high as 50 or 60 percent, but I can assert that most of them were healthy children who were simply afraid of getting infected,” noted Torosyan. The most recent data, according to Torosyan, indicates a decrease in acute respiratory infections in Armenia. It is also noteworthy that no cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the country.