YEREVAN. – The majority My Step faction in the National Assembly of Armenia has withdrawn the bill to increase the fines for not wearing face masks, as it has seen the need to discuss it more. Lilit Makunts, the leader of the My Step faction, said this in a conversation with journalists Wednesday.

"The key approach should be to do the utmost so that the virus is recorded as less as possible among the citizens; that is, this is the starting point—not putting a goal of fining people. At this point, we took a short break [on this matter] because it is important for us to figure out whether it is enough, other steps are needed or not. There was a need for a little more discussion—at least for a few days," she said.

According to Makunts, the condition for wearing face masks is observed in the parts of Yerevan where the number of police officers is large, but the same cannot be said about the areas that are out of the strict control of the police. "Nevertheless, there are issues of dilemma. On the one hand, the fine works because if we recall many public behaviors that exist today but did not exist before, they happened thanks to the introduction of fines. Today, those fines no longer apply, but people continue to follow (…). On the other hand, we say they can pay the fine, but still not wear a mask," Makunts said.