Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 14.05.2020:

·       At Thursday's sitting, the government of Armenia decided to extend the current state of emergency declared in the country on March 16 and extended until May 14 by 30 days, until June 13 at 5 pm.

As per the respective draft decision of the government, the state of emergency is extended especially given that the emergency caused by COVID-19 in Armenia continues to threaten the lives and health of the country’s population and may lead to disruption of people’s normal living conditions.

·       Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan said on Thursday, that wearing face masks not only in indoor public, but also in outdoor public places will become mandatory in Armenia as of May 25, and violators of this rule will be fined by the police.

He also noted: "We anticipate that public transport will be fully operational, and trade outlets will be open as of May 18."

According to Tigran Avinyan, as providing care for young children is a problem for working parents, the preschools will also reopen.

·       As of Thursday, 3,860 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Armenia with 1,572 recoveries and 49 deaths. 2,218 patients with COVID-19 are currently undergoing treatment. In total, 36,016 tests have been completed. Thus, we have 142 new cases and 72 recoveries in a day.

Regarding the latest case of death, the 81-year-old male patient had pre-existing chronic diseases.

In the meantime, as deputy health minister Lena Nanushyan told reporters on Thursday, 66 COVID-19 patients are in serious condition,  while 33 people are in critical condition.

·       Azerbaijani soldiers fired gunshots on Wednesday in the direction of Berkaber village of Tavush Province of Armenia and damaged homes, defense ministry's spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan wrote on her Facebook page.

“The Armenian border guards’ actions against the adversary silenced the latter. There are no victims,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the acting community leader of Berkaber village Vahe Alikhanyan told Armenian News - NEWS.am that a family with young children lives in a house fired by Azerbaijani armed force.

According to him, children of three and six years old played in the garden when the shooting began.

·       A court has denied releasing Armenian ex-president Robert Kocharyan on bail.

Earlier, his lawyers and some Armenian and Artsakh former PMs had petitioned the court to release Kocharyan on bail. Each of the guarantors was required to pay AMD 500 thousand.

Kocharyan's attorneys have also submitted a second motion seeking to amend or cancel the preventive measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to them, the European structures unequivocally declare the need to release, if possible, arrested and imprisoned amid the pandemic, in particular those at the risk group.