Health Minister Warns Of Hospital Bed Shortage as COVID-19 Cases Rise in Armenia

YEREVAN — Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan warned on Thursday that Armenian hospitals could run out of beds for COVID-19 patients if a renewed increase in coronavirus cases in the country continues unabated.

Avanesyan issued the warning after health authorities registered the largest single-day number of cases in more than two months.

The Armenian Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that 748 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day, sharply up from an average of 183 cases a day recorded in February. The daily number of officially confirmed infections averaged 407 in the first ten days of March.

“As we predicted last week, we have a major increase in the disease,” Avanesyan told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “Right now there are 6,772 active cases and 901 of these people are hospitalized.”

Avanesyan said that the nine Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 patients currently have about 100 vacant beds and the authorities are setting up more such beds to cope with the growing number of serious cases.

“But I want to warn that the number of beds is not unlimited and everything must be done to make sure that the number of patients does not exceed our [hospital] capacity and that we again don’t have patients who cannot be hospitalized and have to stay at home,” she said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed concern at the worsening epidemiological situation in Armenia. He urged citizens to comply with sanitary rules set by his government following the onset of the pandemic last year.

“The rules must be followed so that there is no need to introduce additional restrictions. I ask and urge everyone to pay special attention to the problem, since the individual approach of everyone will be important in this matter, ”Pashinyan said.

Health experts believe that recent rallies held in Yerevan by both the Armenian opposition and the government have also contributed to the resurgence of coronavirus cases.