Azerbaijan may extend coronavirus lockdown

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Special quarantine regime in Azerbaijan may be extended until July 19, Presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev said at the briefing of Operational Headquarters on June 30.

A two-week strict quarantine regime entered force on June 21 in the territory of Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran, Yevlakh, Masalli, Jalilabad and Absheron region.

Hajiyev said that such quarantine mode will yield results in the coming days, although the trend shows that the decision made were correct.

However, he highlighted that the increasing number of infected people in the country, is due to non- compliance with the requirements of special quarantine regime.

He once again stressed that citizens should still observe the rules concerning the wearing of medical masks and observance of social distance.

Moreover, he added that issues related to the COVID-19 in Azerbaijan are monitored around the clock, as well as all necessary instructions are given and measures are taken.

Hajiyev noted that the issue to support to persons treated at home is also under consideration.

"Coronavirus aggravates problems in the world. Coronavirus must be recognized as war in the world scale. We will feel this threat until coronavirus is eliminated,” he said.

Azerbaijan first introduced quarantine regime on March 24, and on June 18 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 1.

Under the new lockdown rule, citizens are allowed to leave their place of residence only after obtaining SMS permissions.

Operation of shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, as well as museums, exhibition halls, sport and beaches was also suspended until July 5.

As of July 1, Azerbaijan has registered 17,524 COVID-19 cases and 213 coronavirus- related deaths so far. The total number of recovered patients is 9,715.