On 25 August, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a decree regarding Health Minister Arsen Torosyan unused vacation. 

The decree posted on the government website stated that Torosyan will take the unused part of his annual minimum leave for the 2018-2019 service year and the unused part of the annual minimum leave for the 2019-2020 working year - from 31 August  to 18 September inclusive. It was also indicated that while Torosyan is on vacation, he will be replaced by First Deputy Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan.

Following the decree, Torosyan closed his official Facebook page. His spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan refused to comment on the reasons. Asked when an official statement will be made, she said they are not going to give any clarifications yet.

Some media outlets were quick to draw conclusions – they said that this is the first signal for Torosyan's resignation from the post of minister. Rumours that he will leave his post have been circulating for a long time, both because of the government's anti-coronavirus policy, which turned out to be a failure, and in connection with high-profile resignations in the field.

The opposition-minded Yerevan daily “Zhoghovurd” reported that a task force coordinating the government’s response to the pandemic has demanded a detailed financial report from Torosyan. The Armenian Ministry of Health did not confirm or refute the information. Still, the ministry issued a statement saying that since March the health authorities have spent a total of around 10 billion drams ($21 million) on treatment of Covid-19 patients and other measures against the disease.

Another opposition-minded Armenian newspaper “Hraparak daily” wrote that 3 days ago Torosyan wrote a letter of resignation to the Prime Minister, but Pashinyan became very angry, tore up the letter and said that, 'You do not decide when you go, I decide.' The article further elaborated that there was an unpleasant conversation between the prime minister and the minister. The prime minister said that law enforcement is checking his activities, and if it turns out that the rumours that Torosyan is entangled in corrupt deals are true, then he will not leave the office, but would be punished.

A day later, on 26 August, Torosyan’s spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan wrote on Facebook that Torosyan has not submitted his resignation application and that he will return to regular work after his holiday. “Let’s begin with the fact that the coronavirus situation in Armenia continues to be stable with the number of cases going down and the situation being more controllable. During the past half year, the minister worked with 24/7 regime and may get use of his annual holiday,” she said, adding that he will spend the holiday in Armenia.