Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 13.03.2020:

·       The number of coronavirus cases in Armenia has reached eight. And nearly 100 people are quarantined.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said that educational institutions in Armenia will close until at least March 23.

His remarks came after a special meeting of the government to discuss the fight against coronavirus. According to him, the government will once again touch on this issue on March 18,19 and, if necessary, will extend the deadlines again.

Armenia's football federation decided to suspend all tournaments because of the coronavirus outbreak until March 23. A press conference of newly appointed Armenia head coach Joaquin Caparros that had to take place on March 13 will be suspended as well.

·       Meanwhile, more than 130,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded globally, with over 5,000 deaths. And to this day, China has the largest number of infected and deaths from coronavirus. 

However, things are much worse in Italy, Iran and South Korea than in China. More than 15,000 cases of coronavirus infection have already been recorded in Italy. The death toll has exceeded 1,000. And Armenia’s neighbor Iran has recorded over 11,000 cases with more than 500 confirmed deaths. South Korea has more than 7,900 confirmed cases and over 70 deaths.

·       Azerbaijan has violated the ceasefire and opened fire toward Armenia’s combat positions nearby Ijevan town. There were neither damages nor affected as a result of this shooting, Armenian Defense Minister’s spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan told Armenian News - NEWS.am.

According to her, the Azerbaijani side’s shooting stopped after Armenia had fired shots in response.

The spokesperson also refuted the “report” disseminated by the Azerbaijani side the Armenian side had allegedly opened fire on Abbasbeyli village of Azerbaijan.

·       Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday that Moscow urged the parties to the Karabakh conflict to exercise restraint and refrain from using force.

As reported earlier, a soldier of the Armenian Armed Forces was killed in fire by the Azerbaijani side. Zohrab Sianosyan (born in 1984) was fatally wounded as Azerbaijani side opened fire on Tuesday afternoon in the direction of one of the military units in Armenia’s southwest.

·       The American dollar’s (USD) exchange rate against the Armenian dram (AMD) comprised AMD 487.85/$1 in Armenia on Friday; this is up by AMD 3.52 from Thursday, Central Bank of Armenia reported.