Georgian government approves action plan for prevention of new coronavirus

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Thursday, January 30

The new coronavirus, which is thought to have emerged from illegally traded live animals at a seafood market in Wuhan (Hubei province of China) is contagious.

The head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Amiran Gamkrelidze said yesterday: “Two Chinese sailors in Georgia’s seaside city of Batumi will be observed by the medics of NCDC”.

The Georgian government is¬sued a decree (No. 164) and approved an action plan to pre¬vent the possible transmission and spread of the China-born coronavirus on the territory of Georgia and to respond to the outbreak. Outside China, cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed in more than a dozen countries

According to the ordinance, the agencies were instructed to take appropriate steps within their competence. The inter¬agency coordination will be or¬ganized by the Ministry of IDPs from occupied territories, La¬bour, Health and Social Affairs.

Measures envisaged under the plan include the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance, LEPL Revenue Service, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies.

The Ministry of Finance of Georgia was instructed to mobilize financial resources from appropriate allocations if necessary, including from the Reserve Fund of the Govern¬ment of Georgia.

Ministry of Internal Affairs has been assigned to: In case of an emergency, coordinate all preventive and response measures and protect medical facilities; Help ambulances while transporting patients; Ensure security of state order and strategic state facilities.

Ministry of Finance Revenue Service was asked to distribute ‘commemorations’ to passengers arriving from the areas of the coronavirus spread.

The National Food Agency provided temporary ban on the import, re-export and transit of live animals from the People’s Republic of China. Before the ban, Georgia used to import ornamental fish and decorative turtles from China.

The Ministry of Foreign Af¬fairs was entrusted to inform the embassies about the need for health insurance for their citizens to enter Georgia and the regulations (if any) intro¬duced by the Government of Georgia. MFA will also inform the Government of Georgia about the incidence of corona¬virus among Georgian citizens living in high-risk countries and those living in Georgia in other countries.

The Action Plan also aims to ensure that the public and the media are properly informed, for which the Georgian Public Broadcaster was asked to pro¬vide the public with accurate and necessary information on the risk reduction of coronavirus and its impact.

Georgia has temporarily sus¬pended direct air traffic with the People’s Republic of China. In a statement by the Civil Aviation Agency, the reason is the prevention of the pos¬sible spread of coronavirus in Georgia. The restriction is valid until the end of the winter navi¬gation season - March 29, 2020.