VIDEO: Avanesyan on Changes to Coronavirus Restrictions

After the government meeting, Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan spoke to reporters about the current situation regarding coronavirus infections.

“Since last week, we have seen a sharp decline, but we are still recording more than 1700 positive cases daily. This means we can say that we are on a downward trend, but hospitals are still operating at quite an intensive mode. In cases of the Omicron variant, most cases are milder, but this does not mean we do not have severe cases. I repeat, 88% of our hospitalized patients are unvaccinated citizens who are experiencing the disease quite severely,” she said.

According to Avanesyan, there are some forecasts about whether “Omicron” represents the final phase of this pandemic. “But we believe it is still early to specify anything clearly, yet we can say that a transition from a pandemic phase to an endemic disease phase seems to be emerging. This means that, yes, COVID will remain as such, becoming part of our lifestyle with certain seasonal surges. However, it is still early to definitively say that the pandemic is over,” the minister added.