COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Artsakh
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread in April 2020 to the Republic of Artsakh (a de facto independent republic on territory de jure part of Azerbaijan). The first infected person was from the village of Mirik in the province of Kashatagh who contracted the virus from Armenia.[1]
| COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Artsakh | |
|---|---|
.svg.png.webp) Number of confirmed cases by province (as of 8 April): Confirmed 1–9 | |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Artsakh |
| First outbreak | Artashat, Armenia |
| Index case | Mirik, Kashatagh Province |
| Arrival date | 7 April 2020 (9 months and 4 weeks) |
| Confirmed cases | 1,130 |
| Recovered | 337 |
Deaths | 30 |
| Government website | |
| moh | |
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[2][3]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[4][5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[6][4]
Timeline
March
The border of the Republic of Artsakh with Armenia was closed in order to prevent the virus from spreading to the unrecognized republic, which had its general elections on 31 March.
April
On 7 April, the Ministry of Health of the Artsakh Republic reported about its first coronavirus case after one of two suspected cases tested positive for COVID-19.[7] The person is from Mirik.
On 9 April, three people were tested, of whom two tested positive for COVID-19, though one of them is a citizen of Armenia. The local who tested positive had registered to vote in Moshatagh (near Mirik).[8] At this point, all known cases in Artsakh were from the province of Kashatagh.
On 10 April, one of the two additional confirmed cases was from Karvachar, Shahumyan, making it the second province in Artsakh to have a confirmed case.[9]
On 15 April, in accordance with a decision taken by the Artsakh Republic's Special Commission on the Emergency Situation on 14 April, the free movement of people in the villages of Mirik, Moshatagh, Tsitsernavank, Karvachar, in the Kashatagh region, as well as the Verin Horatagh, Kochoghot and Haterk communities of the Martakert region were restricted to the administrative boundaries of the respective villages and regions.[10]
May
As of 24 May, there have been 33 cases in Artsakh.[11]
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
Several outlets reported increased cases of COVID-19 in Nagorno-Karabakh, particularly the city of Stepanakert, where the population is forced to live in overcrowded bunkers, due to Azerbaijan artillery and drone strikes, and difficulty in testing and contact tracing.[12][13]
Statistics
References
- LLC, Helix Consulting. "First coronavirus case recorded in Artsakh - aysor.am - Hot news from Armenia". www.aysor.am. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- "First coronavirus case reported in Karabakh". news.am. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "2 out of 3 citizens tested for coronavirus in Artsakh have positive results".
- "COVID-19 Daily Briefing (April 10)".
- "COVID-19 Daily Briefing (April 14)".
- "Coronavirus live updates | Ban on entering and exiting Tbilisi lifted". OC Media. 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
- "Coronavirus spreads in Nagorno-Karabakh amid heavy fighting". www.apnews.com. Associated Press. 2020-10-21.
- "Coronavirus thrives in Karabakh's bomb shelters". www.ctvnews.ca. CTV News. 2020-10-24.
