11:18, 31 January, 2020

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has signed an order on creating a governmental inter-agency commission to coordinate the efforts on preventing the novel coronavirus spread in Armenia.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan is heading the commission.  The PM has ordered the commission to brief him on the situation and the work.

Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan is serving as Deputy Chairman of the commission.

The composition of the commission includes Deputy Healthcare Minister Lena Nanushyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Harutyunyan, Deputy Director of the National Security Service Samvel Hayrapetyan, Deputy Chief of Police Hayk Mhiryan, Tourism Committee director Susanna Safaryan, Civil Aviation Committee administrator Tatevik Revazyan, Healthcare and Labor Inspection Agency Director Hakob Avagyan, State Service for Food Safety Director Georgi Avetisyan, Disease Control and Prevention Center director Artavazd Vanyan, WHO Armenia Office Director Yegor Zaytsev and UN Food and Agriculture Organization Program Manager Zaruhi Beglaryan.

Speaking at a press conference on January 31, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said that the commission has already held its first sitting and the situation around the coronavirus outbreak in China has been discussed. He said they have also discussed the possibility of a potential evacuation of the Armenian citizens who are currently in China. He noted that among the Armenian nationals in China, not all are willing to leave.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan