Page 60 - GEORptOct21

Georgian health minister announces salary supplements for paramedics, ambulance personnel
Field hospital to be set up in Tbilisi as virus levels breach record
EBRD extends €25mn loan to private operator Georgian Healthcare Group amid pandemic
Georgian paramedics and ambulance personnel are to receive GEL 500 ($160) salary supplements, Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze announced on August 18.
On August 17, Georgia’s government announced the creation of a field hospital for additional coronavirus cases in Tbilisi.
Tikaradze underlined that ambulance doctors from all Georgian regions will receive the salary supplements, noting that they have been working in very difficult conditions.
“We have been giving supplements to doctors for almost a year... The remuneration of all medical staff is quite high,” said Tikaradze.
Tikaradze visited a recently erected field hospital for 500 COVID-19 patients in the Didi Digomi district of Tbilisi earlier on August 18.
The government increased the salaries of healthcare workers who are involved in the fight against COVID-19 by 50% in October last year.
Georgian Minister of Health Ekaterine Tikaradze announced on August 16 that a field hospital will be set up in Tbilisi in the suburb of Digomi. On August 12, Georgia announced three weeks of new COVID-19 restrictions as coronavirus cases reached their highest levels yet in the country.
The hospital will have capacity for 500 patients and most beds will be equipped with oxygen.
Tikaradze said that if necessary, field hospitals might be arranged in other regions besides Tbilisi. The field hospital’s arrangement started on August 17, as beds and other equipment were mobilised in one of the sports halls of the Olympic Village in Digomi.
Tikaradze also declared that vaccination centres that do not require registration will be arranged in all regions of Georgia. She added that following the introduction of the latest virus restrictions, the government at this point does not plan to introduce any additional ones.
As for the vaccination process in the country, according to Paata Imnadze, deputy director of the National Centre for Disease Control, the vaccination rate was satisfactory. "We are satisfied with the current vaccination rate. This is 25,000-26,000 daily vaccinations," Imnadze said, adding that the system can already handle more than 30,000 daily vaccinations.
As of August 17, Georgia had administered a total of 806,698 vaccinations. A total of 238,871 people were fully vaccinated by that date.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to provide a $25mn loan to LSE-listed Georgian Healthcare Group (GHG), Georgia's largest, integrated healthcare services, pharmacy and medical insurance provider.
The financing was approved as part of the development bank's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the EBRD said.
The loan is to finance GHG's short-term working capital and spending deemed critical amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an official statement from the EBRD, GHG has an important state-aligned role in the fight against the health emergency. The company has adapted six large hospitals to meet needs of virus-infected patients in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
The financing will support the implementation of COVID-19 testing at the country’s most advanced medical laboratory, at Megalab. It is also funded by the EBRD.
60 GEORGIA Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com