2020-12-25
The easing of Government-imposed restrictions, strict control over the enforcement of regulations, the relative stabilization of the epidemiological situation, and preparation for a vaccination phase were discussed today by the Interagency Coordination Council chaired by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, at the Administration of the Government.
The meeting emphasized that the intensive testing program continues with almost 20,000 daily tests, though the numbers of citizens seeking testing has been dropping, which is why the Interagency Coordination Council once again urges citizens to take advantage of the service offered by the state and, in case of any respiratory symptoms present, to contact any of more than 200 medical facilities providing testing services.
The council emphasized the impact of the restrictive measures on the relative stabilization of the epidemiological situation, though also pointing out that the achieved results is no reason for contentment, because the epidemic remains a serious challenge throughout the world, including in Georgia. The Interagency Coordination Council and epidemiologists strongly advise against mass New Year festivities, celebrating the upcoming holidays in family circles instead, this way protecting their own health and that of their loved ones.
The Interagency Coordination Council, at today's meeting, also made a decision to allocate 400,000 GEL to Tbilisi City Hall to engage in the upcoming televised New Year event as many representatives of culture and musicians as possible, those otherwise lacking this kind of visibility.
Notably, social distancing and facemasks remain the key preventive measures against the spread of the virus.
The council received detailed information on available hospital beds and the effect of restrictive measures on cushioning the pressure of the hospital sector, emphasizing certain progress in terms of avoiding overloading the available supply of beds. According to the Health Ministry, there are 1,664 hospital beds available throughout the country, which is also indicative of the absence of severe cases in need of hospitalization. The effective work of the system of clinical hotels was also underlined, alongside its enhanced therapeutic elements and oxygen supplies in place. Many clinical hotels are managed by concrete clinics, and that further ensures continuous control over the health of patients.
The meeting emphasized that, since the enforcement of restrictive measures, positive trends have emerged at the Interior Ministry's Public Safety Management Center 112. According to the 112 Public Safety Management Canter's Director Giorgi Arsoshvili, incoming calls relate to both regular medical emergencies and specific COVID-related emergencies have dropped by about 31%, though non-specific 112 calls, about 30% of all calls, remain an issue. Consequently, the Interagency Coordination Council urges citizens to contact 112 only in case of concrete emergencies.
Special attention during the council's meeting was paid to ongoing work to ensure streamlined COVID vaccination, along with the steps taken by the Special Commission established on the instructions of the Prime Minister in order to secure timely vaccine import and put in place relevant infrastructure and logistics. Among others, the commission is actively working on defining criteria for groups to be vaccinated first. Besides the COVAX platform, active negotiations are underway with international partners and vaccine manufacturers. Conducted by the state, with engagement from the Foreign Ministry, and Georgia's diplomatic corps abroad, these negotiations seek to provide Georgia with vaccines as fast as possible.
Alongside the partial easing of restrictions, the Labor Inspection, together with relevant supervisory agencies, has been conducting active monitoring since December 24 at both food and non-food retail outlets, including malls, in order to ensure line management and compliance with all recommendations for admission into the facility.
Through the joint efforts of the Labor Inspection, Revenue Service, National Food Agency, and municipal supervisory services of Georgia, supervising efforts were conducted at 670 outlets in the past 24 hours, including 31 malls throughout Georgia which were given verbal warnings, and so were 619 individual retail outlets. Detailed inspection was conducted at 10 sites, though no violations were identified.
In terms of enforcing the restrictions under the 2-month plan, the law enforcements conducted monitoring efforts and, in eth past 24 hours, identified 554 violations of restrictions throughout the country. The police fined 101 individuals for violating isolation and/or quarantine rules, including the movement restriction between 9 PM to 5 AM. 453 persons were fined in the past 24 hours for not wearing facemasks, and 2 COVID-infected persons were fined by the police for violating isolation and quarantine rules in Tbilisi.
Since the beginning of the COVID outbreak in Georgia, there have been 218,724 confirmed infection cases in the country, of whom 196,220 have already recovered, and 2,313 people have died.
Presently, 396 persons are under quarantine, 1,542 persons in clinical hotels, and 5,969 are hospitalized, under medical supervision.
The Parliament of Georgia led by Speaker Archil Talakvadze and the President's Administration are actively involved in the work of the Interagency Coordination Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
Press Service of the Government Administration