22 May Covid-19 in Georgia
2019 has affected the whole world significantly. The pandemic cases have been recorded in almost every nation on earth, including the republic of Georgia. The crisis has taken a heavy toll on the country and the negative effects caused by the outbreak will last long after the pandemic is actually dealt with.
As of May 22, 2020 there are 723 confirmed cases of the virus with 12 deaths(See Image N1). These numbers are markedly lower if compared with those of other similar countries. For instance, the neighboring countries of Georgia like Armenia(5,928 cases) and Azerbaijan(3,855 cases) have much worse outbreaks.
Georgian government has been praised for its timely and effective actions against the spread of the virus. After the first dozen cases were recorded, the state of emergency was announced: all of the flights were prohibited, most of the facilities, excluding grocery and drug stores, were forced to shut down, and the spring semester of 2020 was adapted to online structure. Furthermore, the quarantine and curfew from 9 pm to 6 am was announced throughout the country.
Many experts attribute the successful response of Georgia to the virus with the mentioned regulations and the efficiency by which they were executed. By the end of May, the virus is clearly receding and thus the restrictions are being lifted. The director of the Disease Control Center(DCC) of Georgia, Amiran Gamkrelidze, director of DCC, remains reserved and urges people to keep being cautious of the virus. However, in the recent encouraging interview, he predicted that the spread of the virus will be halted during the summer:
“Previously known Coronaviruses tended to be seasonal. In the summer, because of the warmer temperature, the viruses are receding. Many scientists are predicting that COVID-19 will display the similar behavior. However, we should expect the virus to come back in colder seasons, starting from late fall. We hope that by that time, the vaccine will be developed.”
Not all members of the Georgian community share the same enthusiasm for the government’s actions for the last 3 months. Even though the regulations have large number of proponents within and outside the country, there are people who are against the heavy restrictions imposed by the state. One of the most outspoken figures protesting the regulations is the leader of Georgian libertarian party “Girchi”, Zurab Japaridze:
“The curfew is unconstitutional and it has no effect on stopping the spread. Moreover, the regulations will damage the economy so significantly that recovery from the following crisis will be extremely difficult. People should be able to choose between staying home and going to work to earn income for their families. Restricting them to do so is the violation of their right to liberty. If the regulations are not lifted in the nearest future, we the members of “Girchi”, are going to protest them in the streets.”
It must be said that what Japaridze says is mostly true. The World Bank is predicting that Georgia will experience a recession of -4% in the year 2020. This will be detrimental for the Georgian economy and as claimed by Zurab Japaridze, recovery from this kind of crisis will be extremely difficult.
