NEWS

COVID Update: Delta Cases Up, Vaccines On Their Way

BY ANA DUMBADZE

The epidemiological situation in Georgia remains stable but still concerning. Health offi cials call on the population to remain cautious, maintain social distance, and take care of each other’s health.

“Georgia detected 20 cases of the Indian variant of the coronavirus as of June 21, increasing its growth rate by up to 15%,” said National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Chair Amiran Gamkrelidze.

He called for more caution so as not to have a repeat of last year’s mistake of thinking the pandemic was over.

“The current epidemiological situation in the country is stable but noteworthy,” he concluded.

Against the background of relatively stable numbers of newly detected cases, the death toll is high compared to previous periods.

THE RESTRICTIONS

Considering that no signifi cant increase in new COVID cases was detected recently, the government decided to lift remaining restrictions and announced several important decisions on Tuesday, causing great satisfaction among society: • The restriction on movement at night (the curfew) will be abolished across the country from July 1; however, even after the abolition of the curfew, restaurants and other entertainment venues will be allowed to open only until midnight; • From June 22, wearing face masks in open spaces will not be mandatory. However, it will still be mandatory on public transport, at bus stops and in all indoor spaces; • One million doses of vaccine will be delivered to Georgia in two weeks Sinopharm, Sinovac, Pfi zer and AstraZeneca are being discussed.

THE VACCINE

As of Thursday, 245,380 people in Georgia had received a coronavirus vaccine.

Concern and dissatisfaction was seen among the public this week when hundreds of citizens who were to get the second dose of AstraZeneca in the coming days received an SMS saying their bookings had been canceled due to delays in delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Amiran Gamkrelidze explained that the delay was caused by the COVAX platform through which the vaccine was purchased.

“Unfortunately, there was a serious delay in the delivery, which is related to many factors, which I will not go into now, but the fact is that this delivery failed and we now have a shortage of about 4-5000 AstraZeneca vaccines.

“All citizens who had planned to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca will be given the opportunity to be vaccinated in the near future, for which an additional announcement will be made,” he said.

THE STATISTICS

Georgia reported 260 coronavirus cases, 834 recoveries, and 15 deaths on Monday, as a result of 11,059 tests conducted. Capital Tbilisi recorded the highest number of 166 Covid-19 cases, followed by the Adjara region with 18 cases and the Imereti region with 17 cases.

Georgia reported 914 coronavirus cases, 635 recoveries, and 24 deaths on Tuesday, with 27,956 tests conducted. Tbilisi recorded the highest number of 524 Covid-19 cases, followed by the Imereti region with 87 cases, and the Kakheti region with 64 cases.

The country recorded 773 coronavirus cases, 575 recoveries and 12 deaths on Wednesday, with 37 923 tests conducted. Tbilisi reported 469 new cases, followed by the Imereti region with 69 cases and the Kakheti region with 59 cases.

Test-positivity rates are as follows: 2.15%, while it was 2.43% in the past 14 days.

On Thursday, Georgia reported 656 coronavirus cases, 861 recoveries, and 17 deaths, the offi cial fi gures show. 30,469 tests were conducted in the prior 24 hours throughout the country. Tbilisi recorded the highest number of 368 new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by the Imereti region with 55 cases and the Adjara region with 48 cases.

Georgia’s total case tally reached 361,484, among which 347,653 people recovered and 5228 died. Currently, there are 8577 active cases of infection in the country.

THE WORLD

Globally, up to 2.5 million new cases of COVID-19 were detected last week, which is 6% less compared to the previous week, the World Health Organization weekly report shows.

Coronavirus has claimed the lives of up to 64,000 people in the past seven days, which is 12% less than the week prior.

In addition, the WHO’s weekly report states that the new variants of coronavirus continue to spread around the world. The "Alpha" variant, which was fi rst identifi ed in the United Kingdom and is therefore also referred to as the "British variant", has been identifi ed in 170 countries and territories around the world, while "Gamma," or “the Brazilian variant,” in 71 countries.

The "Delta" strain, which was fi rst identifi ed in India last October, also known as the "Indian variant, " has already been recorded in 85 countries around the world.

WHO said the highest number of new cases of infection, 505,344 cases, were reported in Brazil, which is 11% more than in the previous week. It is followed by India with 441,976 cases, which is 30% less than in the previous week, Colombia in third place with 193,907 new cases, where the infection rate has increased by 10% compared to the previous week, while Argentina comes fourth with 149,673 new cases, and Russia fi fth with 108,139 new cases.

It should be noted that in Russia, the number of infected people last week increased by 31% compared to the previous week.

PM: Those Fined for Breaking Covid Regulations to be Exempt from Paying

Nominee PM Garibashvili Presents Renewed Composition of Gov’t

BY KETEVAN SKHIRTLADZE

Today, June 24, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, announced that those fi ned for breaking Covid regulations are to be exempt from paying the fi ne.

“With my initiative, two bills have already been submitted to the parliament, according to which more than 245,000 of our fellow citizens and 344 legal entities will be exempted from the administrative fi nes.

“We are talking about the unpaid fi nes of about 76 million GEL imposed for violating the rules of isolation, quarantine, and wearing a face mask during the pandemic.

“During the pandemic, many of our citizens and businesses were affected and these fi nes are an additional burden for them. Of course, it is necessary to follow the regulations when managing the virus, but it is important to alleviate the economic situation of our citizens, and this is the reason for this initiative,” said the Prime Minister.

IPSOS Poll: 32% of Respondents Support GD, 23% UNM, 8% Gakharia’s Party

BY ANA DUMBADZE

Mtavari TV published the results of the IPSOS survey.

When asked “which party would you vote for if local elections were held tomorrow?”, based on the IPSOS survey, 32% of respondents answered that they would vote for the Ruling Party Georgian Dream, 23% for the United National Movement, and 8% for Giorgi Gakharia’s party For Georgia.

The fi gures for other parties are as follows:

‘Girchi – More Freedom’ – 5%

‘European Georgia’ – 3%

‘Labor Party’ – 3%

‘Alliance of Patriots’ – 3%

‘Lelo for Georgia’ – 2%

‘Strategy Builder’ – 2

‘Citizens’ – 2%

‘United Georgia – Democratic Movement’ – 1%

‘Droa’ – 1%

‘Girchi’ – 1%

‘Unity, Essence, Hope – Nation’ – 1% Other – 2% 11% Refused to answer.

The survey was conducted by the organization IPSOS at the request of Mtavari TV channel from June 7 to 17. A total of 1000 respondents were interviewed. The margin of error is +/- 3%.

Ipsos, one of the largest market research companies in the world, is headquartered in Paris, France and was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot. They have offi ces in 88 countries with over 16,000 employees and are publicly traded.