During a live broadcast on 1in.am, Anna Hakobyan, wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia, said the coronavirus pandemic was a test of democracy for the whole world and, unfortunately, it was a brutal test, and it would be wonderful if it was a positive test for mankind.

As far as people’s line of conduct is concerned, Hakobyan said people will revalue their values after the pandemic.

According to Hakobyan, the government did and continues to do its best to fight against the spread of the pandemic in Armenia. “There might have been tactical mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes. I have a high sense of responsibility and feel I am to blame for distributing booklets for the constitutional referendum during the first days of the pandemic without a mask and gloves, but I followed the instructions of the Ministry of Health of Armenia and the Commandant’s Office for the state of emergency. There might have been mistakes, but the government is doing everything to protect the people. I want us to stop talking about the numbers of cases. We Armenians are used to judging everything with numbers, but we’re talking about people’s lives. If people picture this tragedy and feel it on their skin, they will be more sensitive and attentive,” she said.

As for the criticism that the government blames people for this situation and that the virus is spread because of their low level of consciousness, Hakobyan says the reason for misunderstanding is social networks and believes people consider Facebook a source of information. “I don’t think the government is leaving everything up to the people and isn’t doing anything. The government has stood by the people since the outbreak of the coronavirus. For the first time in the past 30 years, the Armenian government supported people during a crisis. People saw that the government stands with them and isn’t only relying on their high level of consciousness,” she said.