Nikol Pashinyan: We all failed to ensure proper observance of anti-epidemiological rules

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday admitted the failure - on the part of both his government and the population of Armenia - to ensure a proper observe anti-epidemiological rules to prevent the futher spread of the coronavirus diseae across the republic.

In his speech at the National Assembly's special session, the premier also said that the medical institutions are now facing a heavy overload.

Pashinyan said he firmly believes that the task of containing the virus deals more with the public behavior and public discipline rather than the healthcare sector.

"The understanding, formed originally in our society, has not actually changed. The task of overcoming coronavirus is, in the current situation, not so much a healthcare issue as it is a behaviorial and disciplinary pattern. My firm belief is that the solution is in our minds and in our heads. And this situation can, in point of fact, be overcome solely and exclusively through a change in the behavioral patterns," he told the parliament.  

Pashinyan also cited different international forecasts warning of the global challenge in at least the 1.5 years to come. "Certain estimates even suggest that the world will be overwhelmed by this pandemic in the coming five years the minimum," he said, noting that no countermeasure may be available for three years despite the large-scale efforts to develop a vaccine.

"The daily figures [of new coronavirus cases, recoveries, etc.] bear testimony to the way we observed the anti-epidemiological rules in the past  7-14 day period.  That being said, let us avoid any differentiations between citizens and the government. We all have failed to observe the anti-epidemiological rules on a proper level," he said, pointing out to the daily statistics not demonstrating a decline.