YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Shortly after the first novel coronavirus case was confirmed in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that all educational institutions, including schools, universities and kindergartens, will be shut down for 1 week in an effort to prevent a possible outbreak.

“We need to take some time to deeper understand what is happening”, he said in a live Facebook broadcast.

Pashinyan said this decision technically means that the spring break will start one week earlier than expected.

The PM said that the government’s anti-coronavirus task force is working round-the-clock. He called on the general public to trust only official information. “We will overcome this situation with honor and come out stronger”, he said.

The Armenian PM emphasized that public health is the government’s top priority and that the public will be provided with all necessary information.

He said will personally tour the pharmacies in Yerevan to get to know the situation on the shortage of some items, namely masks.

He said Armenia will not impose a total shutdown of the border with Iran. Currently a partial shutdown is in force since February 24.

Speaking about the quarantine of the direct contacts of the first confirmed case, he called on the public not to make panic over the fact that the contacts have been taken to the resort town of Tsakhkadzor. 31 people have been quarantined at the defunct Golden Palace hotel in the resort town. Pashinyan said that some people started cancelling hotel reservations in other hotels in the city after the news, and emphasized that this is completely unnecessary and unsubstantiated. Pashinyan emphasized that Tsakhkadzor must resume its normal life and it shouldn’t be considered as a “risk zone” by visitors.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan