Georgia Not Planning to Impose State of Emergency Due to COVID-19 - Prime Minister

TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2020) Georgia is not going to reimpose the coronavirus-related state of emergency amid a huge spike in the infection rate, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Monday during a briefing.

Georgia has been seeing an upward trend in the number of new cases since late August the daily increment spiked from several dozen to 900 - 1,100 cases on average by mid-October. A single-day record of 1,192 cases was confirmed on Sunday.

"We are in a completely different situation. In past, the decision to impose a lockdown was right, as it protected the health of our citizens. Back then, there were simply not enough medical masks in the country. Today, when the whole world agrees that the most effective way to fight the virus is by wearing medical masks, we, of course, will not impose a lockdown.

There is no such need, our economy will not survive it," Gakharia said during a briefing.

The prime minister added that targeted restrictions and social distancing measures are most effective against COVID-19. According to Gakharia, the surge in the number of cases was expected, and the world needs to learn how to live with the new normal.

Gakharia once again confirmed that the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 31, will go ahead as planned.

To date, Georgia has registered over 18,600 COVID-19 cases, 143 related deaths and more than 8,300 recoveries. The state of emergency was in place from mid-March to mid-May.