The World Health Organization is guided by health standards, but like many other countries in the world, Armenia also has economic, security-related, financial and social needs. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated during a briefing held after the session of the Commandant’s Office for the state of emergency declared in the country, touching upon the comment that the World Health Organization has set six standards that countries lifting the lockdown need to follow, including the following: spread of the virus needs to be manageable, the healthcare system of the country needs to have capacities to conduct tests, isolate and treat every patient. The Prime Minister also touched upon whether Armenia complies with the standards and how much worse should the situation get for Armenia to decide establish a regime of strict quarantine.

Pashinyan also said the following: “Today, many countries are lifting the lockdown since they’re not able to comply with those standards. As for how much worse should the situation get, this depends on each and every one of us. I hope people change their line of conduct so that the government won’t have to establish a strict regime again. In essence, this is something that none of us wants.”