YEREVAN. – The most important problem we have today continues to be the coronavirus epidemic; yesterday we had 665 new cases again, and we are not able to reduce the numbers. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

"We know the reason for this: the anti-epidemic rules are not being followed en masses, and we have to apply more and more rigorous administrative methods. You know that the Commandant’s Office has made a decision that the citizens shall have an ID [with them],” Pashinyan said, explaining the reason for the decision.

"For example, if a citizen who is fined for not wearing a mask does not have a [ID] document with him, the process of subjecting him to administrative liability takes longer (…), and now this decision has been made to make that administrative lever work more effectively. At the same time, according to the logic of our legislation, if a citizen does not wear a mask and the police find out that he does not have a document either, it will be considered two separate proceedings, two fines,” the PM said.

Pashinyan stressed that their analyses show that courtyards and nearby areas in Armenia are the main source of getting infected with COVID-19. " Here, too, we must increase the means of administrative influence. Relevant teams of police and other bodies have been formed, which will carry out this function on a larger and larger scale,” he added.