In the last 20 days we have less than 200 new cases on a daily basis. This is improving. The Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the beginning of the Government sitting.
"The number of active cases has significantly decreased, we have less than 3,000 active cases, that is, positively diagnosed and under treatment. The number of tests is high, we have a high degree of detection of infected people, at the moment we are in the range of 5-6%, which is a high figure", said the Prime Minister.
According to him, the biggest risk in the coming days is the opening of the general education schools, and in this regard, according to the Prime Minister, decisions have been made, which are not unequivocally accepted by the public. In particular, we are talking about the mandatory wearing of masks in schools.
"We are obliged to take steps not to return to the previous situation. There are some comments that are surprising. All the decisions we make, we observe ourselves. This also applies to our children who are not privileged. We will go this way and monitor the situation. If the positive trend continues, we will gradually get out of these restrictions", Pashinyan stressed.
Referring to the socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus, the Prime Minister said that the epidemic, of course, caused economic and social damage. However, according to him, the data on cash register receipts show that we do not have a social collapse and crisis in Armenia. Pashinyan said that in August 2020, compared to August 2019, the cash register turnover decreased by only 2.5%.
"We have a decrease in trade because we do not have tourists. Theaters, cinemas, museums and hotels are are empty. Weddings are limited. It should be noted that cash register discipline is not at the highest level, but the available figures show that there is no social crisis in Armenia. This is due to the policy pursued by the Government.
163.4 billion drams were injected into the economy within the framework of anti-crisis measures. In these programs were particularly special the measures aimed at preserving jobs. In July 2020, there were 613,62 jobs in Armenia, which is 6,597 (1.1%) more than in 2019.
Salary funds this year are 9 billion 765 million drams (8.3%) more than in 2019. We should hope that these indicators will be higher in August, as we had a busy phase of domestic tourism in August", said the Prime Minister.