On 1 April, the Georgian government decided to allocate 2 billion lari to support the country's economy amid the crisis related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.  

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia also announced the government's decision to fully fund the utility bills of households who consume less than 200 kilowatts of electricity and 200 m3 of natural gas per month in March, April and May, meaning that the state will cover utility bills of those who pay maximum 36-37 lari for electricity and up to 92 lari for natural gas. As for the regions, the subscribers of 'Energo-Pro-Georgia' will benefit from the initiative if the maximum electricity bill per month amounts to 36 lari, while subscribers of SOCAR-Gas will benefit from it if the natural gas bill is 82-83 lari per month. The head of government added that funding also includes cleaning services and water bills.

The EU ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell also spoke about the EU’s assistance to the country. According to him, Georgia will have access to the regional emergency medical equipment and facilities in the range of 30 million Euro such as facemasks, artificial breathing devices, laboratory sets, etc. The EU will also assist Georgia with expertise knowledge. “In the next several months, EU will mobilize more than 70 million Euros to help Georgian businesses for [restimulate] their companies after the crisis, restore their normal functioning and facilitate access to grants and credits in lari,” he added.

The country has also expanded the category of people who will be tested for COVID-19 as there have been cases of internal transmission over the past several days. Earlier, only people who travelled abroad or had contact with foreigners and had symptoms of acute respiratory infection were tested. Now, people who show no symptoms, but who have traveled abroad or had contact with foreigners or infected individuals will also be tested. This is in addition to everyone who has symptoms of acute respiratory infection.  

In that context, the country’s Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia announced that the authorities with the aid of Austria were working on launching an app that allows people to check whether they have been near a person who has been confirmed or suspected of having the virus. 

The co-chairs of Geneva International Discussions (GIDs) decided to postpone the 51st  round of negotiations between Georgia, Russia and the representatives of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). They urged all GID participants “to do their utmost to protect vulnerable conflict-affected populations, especially women, men and children in areas facing particular isolation”. Noting that “cooperation across dividing lines, under other circumstances, may be challenging”, they further appeal to all participants of the GID “to set aside differences and ensure that all individuals have the best possible access to testing and treatment”.

The current tally of infected persons is 130 in Georgia, with no reported deaths.