Don’t you sound pessimistic when you say it will take five years for the coronavirus pandemic to end? In response to this question, Minister of Health of Armenia Arsen Torosyan told Azatutyun Radio that five years is what the international healthcare community states and the reason is that even if we find a drug that will effectively cure the virus, approximately five years will be necessary to manage it completely.

“There are 7,800,000,000 people in the world, and there are many questions regarding the vaccines for that many people. There might not be outbreaks like the ones in Italy, Iran or other countries, but we will have to try to manage it, just like we have tried to manage all the remaining infectious diseases. Five years is not that long,” he said.

When asked if it is recommended to go on vacation abroad in the summer and if self-isolation will be mandatory after return, Torosyan said the following: “For instance, I won’t leave Armenia this year, and not because I have to self-isolate when I come back, but because the state of emergency showed that belonging to the country and citizenship are very important from the perspective of taking care of yourself. If I am certain that the particular destination country will take care of me if I catch the virus, I might go to work or spend my vacation, but to be honest, I’m not sure, and this is why many citizens of Armenia are returning. The situation is changing very quickly, and there is no guarantee that the opening borders will be open forever. This is why I would recommend not making far-reaching plans or making predictions.”