Page 9 - GEORptJun20

100,000 are low, but the authorities claim that is a function of the extensive testing it has been conducting. The actual success or failure of the government’s response will eventually become clear, but it remains to be seen how Russia’s governance system and hospitals will cope with the crisis.
The tiny Caucasus republic of Georgia has coped with the outbreak of the epidemic extraordinarily well and managed to bring it under control quickly while keeping the number of fatalities down.​ By May 18, only 701 people in Georgia were infected with COVID-19 and the number of deaths was in low double digits.
The stringent response by the government was a result of the grim realisation that the country is ill equipped to fight the virus and would have been quickly overwhelmed. The strategy has been to avoid the spread of the virus in the country at any cost. The government implemented its first measures in mid-February, stopping flights from China and Iran, but not those from Italy and Western Europe. This explains why the majority of infected people entered Georgia from Italy. Georgia has also imported cases from Spain, France, the Czech Republic, the United States, Russia, and Azerbaijan.
Georgia suspended flights with Western Europe on March 10, and shut its land borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey a few days later. Nurseries, schools, and universities were all closed two days later just before the government declared a one month state of emergency, shutting down all “non-essential” commerce and banning public gatherings of more than nine people.
But, despite the successes, the COVID-19 crisis has already had a dire impact on Georgia’s economy. Tourism and related businesses comprise a huge part of the economy and were brought to a standstill literally overnight. The country’s currency, the lari, has lost almost 20% of its value relative to the US dollar since the crisis began and economic growth has comes to a standstill.
Following the example of neighbours, Georgia also set up a charitable trust to collect donations to counter the virus. As of today, a total of $40mn has been collected of which $31mn was contributed by a philanthropist who wished to remain anonymous. According to some reports, the mysterious philanthropist is Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire and the ex-prime minister of Georgia who heads the ruling Georgia Dream party.
2.4​ ​Georgian opposition pushes for release of third “political prisoner”
Opposition parties of Georgia in a joint statement on May 18 expressed their hope that the co-founder of opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, Giorgi Rurua, will soon be released from prison “like the recently pardoned opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili,” Agenda.ge reported.
They noted they demanded the release of all of these individuals when the “March 8 agreement” on elections was struck.
Under the agreement, brokered by the country's Western development
9​ GEORGIA Country Report ​June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com