YEREVAN. – The coronavirus remains the government's number one agenda item. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

Then the Minister of Health, Arsen Torosyan, reported on the situation in the country in this regard. "The number of new cases registered yesterday reached 566, as opposed to 428 the previous day. Of course, this is a significant increase in absolute numbers, but we must state that the number of tests has been almost as high; 2,233 tests were performed yesterday, 1,751—the day before. The percentage of new positive tests is about the same—25 percent, compared to 24 percent the day before; this is an important indicator.

I have to note with regret that we have 18 [new] deaths, and the total number of deaths reaches 245. Yesterday we had a relatively stable bed load; in numbers, we had about 500 patients in severe and critical conditions, but I can say that there were vacancies in main major centers to accommodate such patients.

The next important indicator is the number of patients in need of hospitalization. As of 9am, we have only 32 people in need of hospitalization, of which only 4 are at home, the remaining 28 are in other hospitals, but will have to be transferred to the coronavirus departments,” the minister said.

He added that the general assessment is that the COVID-19 situation remains tense in Armenia, but in parallel with the development of capacity, this tension is offset by an increase in opportunities.