Amiran Gamkrelidze, Director General of the Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) said Armenian health minister Arsen Torosyan's doubts over the COVID-19 statistics in Georgia are “non-diplomatic”, Novosti-Georgia reported.
According to the Armenian media, Torosyan said the anti-epidemiological system in Georgia is different from the Armenian one, and not from the best side. Torosyan noted that the small number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Georgia can be explained by the peculiarities of the methodology and the quality of tests conducted in a neighboring country.
On the air of the Rustavi 2 TV channel, Gamkelidze said he was surprised by these estimates and doubts that Torosyan could make such a statement. Gamkrelidze does not exclude that the journalists misinterpreted the words of the minister.
"I personally know Arsen Torosyan. It is a little surprising if this statement was made by him from this point of view. Let me remind you that we are very close peoples, neighbors, we have a great common history. It’s a little surprising to hear from him such non-diplomatic statements," he said.
According to the Armenian health ministry, Armenian has confirmed 6,302 COVID-19 cases with 2,936 recoveries and 77 deaths. 3,257 patients with COVID-19 are currently undergoing treatment. In total, 49,080 tests have been completed in Armenia.
In the meantime, Georgia has confirmed 728 COVID-19 cases with 508 people recovered and the death toll has reached 12. According to the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, as of May 22, over 45,707 PCR tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in the country.