Armenia 

On 3 August, the Armenian government said that it is considering lifting the coronavirus-related ban on rallies while keeping all other safety rules related to the pandemic more than four months ago.

The spokesperson for Armenia’s Prime Minister Mane Gevorgyan, told the Armenian Radio Free Europe service that an interagency task force is now working on a relevant government bill. She cautioned that it is still not clear whether the bill would be drafted and sent to the Armenian parliament for approval before the state of emergency ends on 12 August. “The government has yet to decide whether to extend it by another month,” she said.

Over the past three weeks, the number of recoveries has topped the number of new infections for all but three days, according to the official data. In recent days the country has been reporting 300 or fewer cases per day; in June it was regularly reporting 600 or more. The numbers of Armenians getting tested also has decreased but that is due to a decrease in the number of people who are seeking the test. The government said last week that the daily number of new coronavirus cases has fallen considerably since mid-July after months of rapid growth. Pashinyan expressed hope that Armenia will practically overcome its coronavirus crisis already in September.

The country’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan also stated that the country now has plenty of beds, including intensive care units. Several hospitals outside Yerevan that had been converted into COVID-only facilities, including in Vanadzor, Vedi, and Dilijan have resumed normal operations. 

The country reported 196 new cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 39 298, with 768 reported deaths.

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan extended its strict coronavirus quarantine regime until 31 August, while cancelling the SMS permit system that will allow citizens leave their homes without obtaining electronic permission.

Under the new lockdown rules, the toughened special quarantine regime will be cancelled in the Sheki and Siyazan regions. Major shopping centres remain closed, except for food stores and pharmacies within the centres. Starting 5 August, Azerbaijani citizens will be allowed to visit beaches without obtaining permission with a limit of 500 persons per beach. 

Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev said during the press conference that the situation over Covid-19 was under control and there is a positive trend across the country. He noted that new proposals for economic and social support of the population during the coronavirus pandemic are being discussed

In addition, a group of Italian and Chinese specialists fighting Covid-19 have been invited to Azerbaijan. This is in line with President Ilham Aliyev’s instruction to the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers  to help Azerbaijan curb the spread of the virus.

On 3 August, 241 cases of coronavirus infection were reported in Azerbaijan in the past 24 hours bringing the total tally to  32 684 cases and  468 reported deaths. 

Georgia

The Georgian government drafted a special safety protocol for foreign observers who will monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections in October. Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze stated that the observers will not be forced to quarantine and that they will have to register with a specially created online module. He added that the Central Election Commission is working with the Health Ministry of Georgia to produce a safety protocol for election day. 

The country reported three new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Two of the three new cases were imported, while the remaining one patient does not know how he contracted the virus. In a recently conducted study in the country it was highlighted that 272 (27.7%) of the total Covid-19 cases in Georgia were imported. 127 of the 272 imported cases were from Russia (46.6%), 23 (8.4%) were from Turkey, 22 (8%) from Azerbaijan and the remaining 21 cases (7.7%) from Armenia. 

The current tally of infected persons in the country stands at 1182 with 17 reported deaths.