YEREVAN. – We have had 48 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus infection and 61 recoveries, so we can say that we have closed the day with a positive balance. The Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

"The number of our active [COVID-19] cases has decreased by 14, the total number of confirmed cases is 1,159, the same measures continue,” he added. "Throughout this time, more than about 1,500 people have come out of the quarantine, about 300 people in quarantine have tested positive. I say this to make it clear that the quarantine actions are very effective; that is, if we had not done so, we would not have tested those 300 citizens, and it was possible that we would have had a larger spread of the infection.

The bed fund is half full at the moment. If we can keep this pace—that is, the public follow the epidemiological rules—they can hope that this situation will remain manageable for a long time to come.”

Torosyan also noted that 537 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Armenia within 24 hours. "[But] since some of them were entered into the system the next day, I can say the total number: 810 tests," the minister added. "This is important in the sense that we are comparing the number of tests per capita in other countries; in that sense, we are in a pretty good position."