A bus is disinfected in Tbilisi, Georgia, on March 1. TASS via Getty Images

The country of Georgia has declared a nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, President Salome Zourabichvili said in a statement on Twitter Saturday.

“Based on Article 71 of the Constitution of Georgia, I have declared a State of Emergency on the entire territory of Georgia until April 21,” Zourabichvili said. “We came out strong from the first wave of COVID19, but we must be ready for what’s next. We will come out victorious together.”

Earlier in the day, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia called on the former Soviet republic’s president to declare a state of emergency.

The country's first case of the novel coronavirus was detected in late February, and the country has 48 confirmed cases today, Gakharia said. More than 2,300 people are in quarantine zones and many are in self-isolation, he added.

The country has closed schools and suspended military conscription and has shifted public servants to remote work, and has restricted air travel and land traffic, the prime minister said.