Armenia 

On 21 May, Armenia’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan warned that the number of people dying from coronavirus could rise sharply if the highly infectious disease continues to spread rapidly in Armenia. “There have been [over] 70 deaths in the country,” Torosian told a news conference. “Imagine if there were 120, 150 or 200 deaths every day. Such a scenario cannot be ruled out if we fail to contain the spread of the virus,” he stated. 

Torosyan was particularly worried about a possible shortage of intensive care beds at the Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. There are a total of 203 such beds available at the moment and 131 of them are already occupied by patients in serious or critical condition, he said. He also said that the Armenian government has spent so far about 2.4 billion drams on measures to combat the COVID-19 and described the amount as 'catastrophically small,' saying according to various estimates, the country will need up to $300 million to implement all the necessary measures by the end of the year.

A day earlier, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the situation in the country as “very worrying” but argued against changing his government’s strategy for coping with the epidemic. “Our calculations show that if we don’t change anything we will have about 10,000 cases … by the end of May and that figure could reach 20,000 in mid-June,” he said at a meeting of an interagency commission coordinating government measures against the virus.

Pashinyan emphasized that the Armenian authorities should therefore “review the quality and scale of measures” already in place. He further announced that the authorities will have to stop hospitalizing or isolating infected people who show mild symptoms of the virus or none at all. Such individuals, who account for more than 70% of all cases, will be told to self-isolate at home. Asymptomatic patients currently kept in hospitals or hotels turned into temporary medical care centres would also be sent home.

The Armenian government also approved its first long-term economic development program with the total budget of 50 billion drams (about $100 million). Economy Minister Tigran Khachatryan said the goal is to ensure that those private sector projects, which encounter serious problems without government support, take advantage of this initiative and move forward with broader opportunities.

The current tally of infected persons in Armenia stands at  5,928 with  74 reported deaths.

Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) developed a four-phase plan designed to get the tourism sector back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. The ATB CEO Florian Sengstschmid said that the first phase focuses on utilizing the ongoing lockdown period to connect with stakeholders and partners virtually and create digital content. The second phase will focus on domestic tourism, which is already in the process of rolling out as soon as the special quarantine regime is lifted (31 May). The third phase would use a staggered approach to roll out communications in Azerbaijan’s operational markets and restore key campaigns as soon as the border controls are lifted. The fourth phase will comprise of new experiences and campaigns tailored to a different type of global traveller after the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, officials at the Operative Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers, announced that the government is already developing a set of instructions for hotels and recreation centres that will outline their activities in the post-quarantine regime. One of the requirements is the allocation of a special room at the hotels for dealing with suspected COVID-19 cases.

The Azerbaijani authorities also have extended the period of residence for immigrants without a visa in the country. “Before this, the period of residence was extended until 31 May. Usually, migrants should apply for an extension of residence in the country. This issue has been resolved, and the decision was made to extend the period of these persons' residence for 60 days without application until the opening of the borders. Afterwards, their appeals will be considered and decisions will be made,” said the head of the State Migration Service Vusal Huseynov. He also said that deportation of Azerbaijani citizens from foreign countries whose period of residence there has expired has been suspended. Huseynov noted that the number of foreigners currently in Azerbaijan is 134 298. 

The current tally of infected persons in Azerbaijan stands at 3,749 with 44 reported deaths.

Georgia 

Georgia received a considerable amount of international aid in the past few days. On 22 May, the French Development Agency announced that it would allocate €190 million to Georgia to contain the spread of the coronavirus and support energy reforms in the country. In particular €70 million will be allocated for the fight against COVID-19 and €120 million will be offered for energy reforms. 

On the same day, a loan agreement was signed between Georgia and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for a rapid response project against COVID-19. "The amount of budget support is EUR 91,340,000 and it aims to prevent, identify and address the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia and to strengthen national public health systems. 

On 20 May, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a decision to provide €150 million in macro-financial assistance package to help Georgia ‘cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ Georgia was among the ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners of the EU which would receive the financial assistance 'in the form of loans on highly favourable terms.’ 

It was also announced that direct flights between Georgia and Ukraine will resume from 1 July. The Georgian Ministry of Economy also reported that apart from the resumption of direct air flights, issues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in other fields of the economy were also discussed during the meeting.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated that the citizens who have lost their jobs or whose incomes have been reduced amid the pandemic will have their bank loans deferred for another three months. The head of the Georgian government emphasized that it will happen without capitalization of interest.

The current tally of infected persons in Georgia stands at 721, with 12 reported deaths.

North Caucasus

A source from the medical community in Moscow reported that the  Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was being closely watched in Russia’s capital city as he is suspected to have contracted COVID-19. Earlier reports from Russian Telegram channel Baza, said that he was suffering from respiratory distress symptoms for several days before being transported to Moscow. The Chechen government has, for now, made no comment on the reports.

Citizens’ movements will be banned during observed holidays on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr in Chechnya. The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasized that all residents of Chechnya should follow Kadyrov's appeal to celebrate the holiday at home.

Paramedics in Buynaksk and Khasavyurt in Dagestan have uploaded video messages in which they complained that they did not receive the wage bonuses for medical workers promised by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Dagestani authorities reported that payments of bonuses to medical staff in all medical institutions were complete. The prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee of Dagestan have since begun an investigation into the allegations. Investigators have already verified complaints from medical workers at the Tabasaran district hospital regarding the non-payment of promised bonuses.

In total, 326 448 Covid-19 cases were recorded in Russia, with Chechnya reporting 1046 cases and 11 deaths and Dagestan 3855 cases and 65 deaths.