The first case of coronavirus infection was detected in Abkhazia, said the Chief Medical Officer of the Republic of Abkhazia, Lyudmila Skorik.

The doctor noted that the infected patient lives in Gagra.  Now he is in the Central Hospital of Gudauta, which was previously converted for the treatment of patients with coronavirus infection.

“The patient is hospitalized and isolated. He is currently in satisfactory condition. The patient arrived from the city of Moscow, where he was on a business trip,” Skorik said.

She noted that the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service is conducting an in-depth investigation in order to obtain information in order to track everyone with whom the patient could contact.

“This case of coronavirus disease was not unexpected, and in the future we can witness a large number of cases of infection, as the residents of our country most often neglected the requirements that were voiced in the documents of the Cabinet of Ministers, acts of the President, Acting President of the Republic of Abkhazia, orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. They didn’t fulfill the requirement to be at home and on self-isolation, especially who returned from countries where the coronavirus infection was registered,” the Chief Sanitary Doctor of Abkhazia said in her address.

According to her, at the moment, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Republic of Abkhazia is taking everything necessary to stop the spread of infection: testing in suspicious cases to provide timely assistance, providing measures to prevent further spread of the virus in order to minimize transmission from person to person, and notifying the public.

The situation was commented on by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Abkhazia Tamaz Tsakhnakia.

“This positive (test for COVID-19 - ed.) result was expected by us,” the Minister said, explaining that until recently the state border was actively crossed by visitors to the Republic from different regions of Russia, in particular from Moscow, where today  there is an increase in the number of people infected with coronavirus.

“We have repeatedly said that it is necessary to take very tough measures: not to leave the house, not to communicate in crowded places, at public events, to go out only as a matter of necessity to pharmacies, grocery stores, and also to hospitals with appropriate indications.  It is very important to maintain a regime of self-isolation, since today, according to all expert estimates, the increase in the incidence rate will progress literally until the end of April,” said Tsakhnakia. 

Earlier, in the morning of April 7, the Acting President of the Republic of Abkhazia Valery Bganba signed an Order to close the state border on the Psou River for all categories of citizens from 00:00 April 8 to April 20, 2020.