Coronavirus and war
How did the disease rates change during the war?
On September 27th, when Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack on Artsakh, 49,400 cases of coronavirus were registered in Armenia, 1246 cases of death, of which 289 deaths were due to other health problems. 328 new cases of coronavirus were registered that day, 429, 392, 374, 210, 115, 121, 244, 239, 295, 257 – on the previous days.
In the days following September 27th, the number of new infections doubled, tripled, multiplied, and so was with deaths. From September 27th to November 9th, the death toll from the coronavirus was 629.
On the day of the end of hostilities, November 10th, 1221 new infections were registered, 34 deaths, the total number of patients reached 108 687, deaths – 2021, of which 412 patients died due to other health problems.
What factors contributed to the widespread of the disease?
On March 24th this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the warring parties to lay down their arms around the world, establish a global ceasefire in all parts of the world, and focus on the fight against COVID-19.
During the large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh, on October 22d, the World Health Organization expressed concern over the sharp rise and spread of COVID 19 in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Expressing condolences on the evacuation of victims, wounded and residents during the war, the WHO also stressed that all this deepens the already dangerous situation in the healthcare system. The WHO director called for an immediate ceasefire.
An article published in October on the page of the HALO organization carrying out demining works in Artsakh referred to the dangers of COVID-19 spreading in shelters.
In response to WomenNet.am’s inquiry, the Ministry of Health of Armenia listed the factors due to which the number of infected people increased.
“On September 27th, after the start of hostilities, a number of factors contributed to the increase in the number of coronavirus diseases registered in the country, in particular, mobilizations, volunteer groups, during which crowds of people appeared in limited areas, as a rule, sanitary rules were not observed. (wearing masks, maintaining social distance, etc.), the flow of large numbers of IDPs from the Republic of Artsakh to Armenia, their uncontrolled movement, temporary accommodation in various dormitories – citizens’ houses, hotels, dormitories, etc. – and non-compliance with sanitary and epidemiological safety rules. The increase in the number of cases of coronavirus disease has been facilitated by the large number of gatherings during funerals and burial ceremonies,” the ministry said.
By the way, the infection was widespread among the displaced. According to official information, from September 27 to October 24, as a result of laboratory tests carried out by the Republic of Armenia, 1,088 people from the Artsakh Republic were diagnosed with coronavirus disease.
How have numbers changed in Artsakh during this period, they do not know, directing to the Ministry of Helath of Artsakh.
The Ministry assures that a number of measures are taken to prevent coronavirus disease, including each confirmed case of COVID-19 being examined, self-isolation instruction is given, self-isolation notification is observed, sanitary-epidemiological safety rules are observed, in medical organizations Epidemiological monitoring is carried out continuously in the direction of prevention, the proposals developed on the basis of the identified gaps are presented to the interested departments, at the same time methodological and practical assistance is provided to all medical organizations. The international experience and the recommendations of the World Health Organization are continuously studied and, if necessary, localized in our republic, the existing legal acts are amended.
P.S. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Health, the risk of dying from coronavirus is higher among men, and women are more infected. Thus, as of August, 62% of infected with coronavirus in the country were women. About 55% of the dead were men, 45% were women. The same trend was observed as of November 20: 59.3% of infected with coronavirus – women, and 55% of died – men.
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