The FINANCIAL — At today’s session of the Interagency Coordination Council, it was announced that the education process will be resumed in the auditoriums of higher and vocational education institutions from 19 October, while kindergartens will open for pupils from 12 October. Said changes will not apply to Adjara, where the education process will continue remotely. New recommendations on assessing the recovery status of asymptomatic individuals were also discussed at today’s session of the Council.
The education process for primary school students in grades 1 through 6 will resume in the classrooms of Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, and Zugdidi from 1 October, while the education process will be resumed in full in Gori and Poti.
Schools in Ozurgeti municipality in the Guria region will continue studies online as an increased number of coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the area. As for schools in Chohkatauri and Lanchkhuti, studies will continue in-person. Georgia has reported a record 298 new cases of the coronavirus earlier today and three deaths. Meanwhile, 148 individuals recovered in Georgia within the last 24 hours. The total number of recoveries has reached 2,054, according to local media agenda.ge
In addition, considering the epidemiological situation in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the ban on public and intercity transport remains in force, and restaurants are open only until 22:00. Furthermore, the Interagency Coordination Council advises elderly citizens, especially in Adjara, to refrain from leaving their homes except in cases of urgent necessity.
Last week, PM Gakharia stated that the government has no plans to impose any systemic restrictions as the country must go back to a normal way of living and Georgian citizens must learn to live with the coronavirus. He also stated that the country is managing and adapting to the virus and the government has taken all measures to prepare for this stage, which includes the early detection of the virus and effective treatment of infected individuals.
According to public healthcare experts, the relevant recommendations have changed around the world. Namely, according to the statements issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, individuals are practically no longer contagious once eight days have passed since the onset of symptoms – the test may give positive results but the ability of the virus to infect other people is minimal or virtually nonexistent. Correspondingly, persons who were tested 12 days ago and are no longer exhibiting any symptoms will be considered to have recovered and will be able to return to normal social life without a repeat test. The aforementioned scheme of granting persons recovered status will be reflected in the guidelines of the Ministry of Healthcare, as reported by the Georgian government.
As regards symptomatic individuals, the minimum duration of hospitalization until recovery for patients in clinics is 13 days, which means ten days of exhibiting symptoms followed by a three-day asymptomatic period. During the session of the Council, the Ministry of Healthcare also presented information about the process of treating COVID-infected persons at home. According to the ministry, at the moment up to 800 infected persons are being treated at home under the supervision of a doctor, with more than 600 of them being located in Adjara.
The Interagency Coordination Council once again urges citizens to exercise maximum caution, follow the established recommendations, observe social distancing, and wear face masks, which is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus. As of today, 5,552 laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Georgia, of which 2,054 persons have already recovered. Forty-one Georgian citizens have been repatriated from foreign countries for treatment. Thirty-one persons have died.
At this stage, 5,637 persons are in quarantine, 800 citizens are receiving treatment at COVID hotels, while 836 persons are hospitalized under medical observation.
Earlier this month, it was announced that all foreign citizens entering Georgia, including from Germany, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia to which Georgia has opened borders unconditionally, will be obliged to obtain PCR test results taken in the last 72 hours before departure, from September 15. Gakharia said that the decision was made in order to protect the health of Georgian citizens, as we well as foreigners. Read more.
