Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 27.02.2020:

·       Given the current state amid the spread of coronavirus, Armenian MFA issued a statement urging Armenian citizens to temporarily avoid visits to Iran, China, Japan, South Korea, and Italy, unless strictly necessary.

The Armenian embassy in Japan also urged Armenian citizens there and in South Korea to contact them.

Meanwhile, the country’s health minister Arsen Torosyan noted at the government’s session that Armenia has tested 95 people for coronavirus, and all patients tested negative.

By the way, the first flow of Armenian citizens from Iran has returned to the country by a special flight. The next flow will return on February 28.

The PM Nikol Pashinyan, in his turn, noted Armenian nationals must be confident that the government is not hiding information about coronavirus.

The number of new coronavirus deaths worldwide has reached 2,804. Iran had confirmed 19 deaths and 139 infection cases. And Georgia has also recorded the first case of coronavirus.

·       Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan received Thursday CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, who is on a working visit to Armenia. Speaking on Artsakh settlement, Zas reaffirmed the CSTO position that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Meanwhile, a roundtable discussion on CSTO took place in Yerevan. 

And the Azerbaijani membership in CSTO has been touched upon during the meeting. According to Russian envoy to Armenia, Sergey Kopirkin, the consensus of all member states is needed for this. While Belarusian envoy, in turn, Igor Nazaruk noted the trend in this direction can be viewed as a positive step amid the common historical past within the ex-USSR.

·       Nearly 2 million traffic violations have been recorded in Armenia in 2019, said the head of the Traffic Police.

According to Yegor Karapetyan, 298,645 people received warnings about violations identified through the use of various technical means. And a total of 4803 decisions were made regarding driving while intoxicated.

·       The staff of the hospital of the Medical Department of Armenia Police held a protest today demanding not to close this medical facility. Earlier, the PM stated on the closure of the hospital.

According to the protesters, most of whom are retired police officers, if the hospital is closed, they will have virtually no other place to receive medical treatment. Besides, there is also a security issue here as no one will take a risk to harm a police officer at a police hospital, the protesters added.

·       The government decided to dismiss Vahagn Vermishyan as Chair of the Urban Development Committee; this decision was an unreported one.

Vermishyan has been arrested by a court order. Six more people have been charged in the criminal case opened against him on charges of bribe-taking.

·       The term of the arrest of Armenian SRC ex-head Gagik Khachatryan was extended for another two months, said his attorney Yerem Sargsyan. Gagik Khachatryan is accused of abuse of office and embezzlement on a particularly large scale.

·       Juventus and the Italian squad ex-striker, world champion Alessandro Del Piero has been on a short visit to Yerevan. 

He posted a respective video on Instagram writing: "Good morning Yerevan.”