Armenia’s Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan calls for conscious, voluntary lockdown, instead of imposed one. In a Facebook message, the Minister said:

“We all need to restrict our non-essential contacts, movements, visits, events, meetings.

We must stay at home as much as possible.

On weekends we should also stay at home, not go to parties, picnics.

Group or even individual visits to various places of interest should be stopped, now is not the time.

We should stop celebrating various occasions, such as the birth of a child, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc., including in your own homes.

Participation in funeral events should be limited as much as possible, practically stopped. Condolences offered over phone in this epidemic situation should be considered more valuable.

In the evening we should also stay at home, avoid going out and communicating with neighbors. It’s simply necessary not to meet, not to communicate, stay away from each other, avoid drinking coffee together, etc.

Children, no matter how difficult it may be, need to be kept at home as long as possible. It’s necessary to think of other activities for the children so that they don’t go to play in the yard.

Do not visit your relatives, if there is no vital need, contact them remotely. That sacrifice is needed to save their lives.

Stop visiting cafes and restaurants, it is the only place where it is possible to be without a mask and infect each other. If you want to get food from that restaurant, order it and eat alone.

Don’t go out for walk in the evening. We must be able to withstand that temptation and comply with this important demand until the situation improves.

In all other cases, it’s necessary to wear a mask correctly, keep a distance of 1.5-2 m, and often disinfect the hands.

There is simply no other way out of this situation.”