16:52, 12 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenian minister of economy Tigran Khachatryan says it’s still too early to give an assessment to the effect of the novel coronavirus on the economy.

“Coronavirus affects not only the Ruble fall, oil prices, but also tourism, definitely it will leave some consequences. But it’s still too early to give an assessment in this regard. I think that some time later when the major problem is solved and we prevent the spread of the virus and reach the balance at the expense of manageable mechanisms which will allow to be sure that there is no danger anymore, we will calculate that time what impact it has left on the economy and what steps need to be taken to mitigate the situation”, the minister told reporters at a briefing.

A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center with a population of 12 million, in late December. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple foci. Cases of the new coronavirus have also been reported in over 70 other countries. Currently the number of people infected with COVID-19 around the globe is over 120,000, with more than 4,000 deaths.

Armenia confirmed three new coronavirus cases on March 11. As of now the total number of the confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country is 4. The first case was reported on March 1.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan