Thursday, June 25 2020 13:56

ArmInfo.Georgia will open borders for foreign tourists from July 1, but it is planned to accept them only from countries with a low prevalence of coronavirus,  News-Georgia reports.

According to the source, in the coming days, the Georgian authorities  should submit a list of "green countries", that is, safe from an  epidemiological point of view. As expected, travelers from Germany,  the Czech Republic, Austria and the Baltic countries will be allowed  to enter. At the same time, it is noted that, apparently, Russia,  Turkey, Armenia and several other countries, of which Georgia  receives the most tourists, will not be included in this list.

"Many countries, which were a certain source of tourists for us, are  in a rather difficult epidemiological situation. For every tourist  coming from there, there is a risk, and we will not allow these  risks," said Deputy Minister of Health of Georgia Tamar Gabuniya.

The Deputy Minister of Health noted that until recently Georgia was  negotiating the resumption of tourist trips with Israel, but the  epidemiological situation there worsened, and "to some extent, they  revised this decision."

Gabunia added that the EU authorities have chosen a similar strategy.  As you know, the EU is considering the possibility of temporary  denial of entry to its territory for citizens of several countries in  connection with the continuing unfavorable situation with the spread  of coronavirus.

"We will not allow the virus to enter the country. If we open the  door to high-risk countries, of course, there is no need for  additional discussion and analysis - this risk will appear in the  country. Thus, the first criterion that all countries discuss and  think about is opening borders for the so-called green countries  where the epidemic is well controlled, "said the deputy head of the  Ministry of Health.

She added that negative coronavirus tests performed by the polymerase  chain reaction (PCR) method "in a reliable laboratory" no later than  72 hours before the trip can be considered a "specific mechanism of  entry protection". However, the Georgian authorities are not going to  rely solely on such certificates.  "Most likely, this mechanism will  be used in the appropriate groups. However, it cannot be for mass  coverage if we imagine that an active influx from high-risk countries  will begin. Therefore, we will be very careful about this issue. We  will see how the epidemiological situation develops,"  said Gabunia.

It should be noted that in Armenia, as of the morning of June 25, the  total number of people infected with coronavirus reached 22488 people  (771 over the last day). In fact, 10,625 people are currently being  treated (their number has increased by 221 per day). 11,335 people  recovered (538 in the last day), 397 patients died (11 in the last  day).