Azerbaijan extends COVID-19 quarantine regime

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan has extended until September 1 the special quarantine regime to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed a relevant decree on July 22.

Under the decree, the work of public transport in the country will be suspended on weekends until August 30. The special quarantine regime was previously extended until August 1.

Azerbaijan confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 28, 2020. The country introduced a special quarantine regime on March 25 and took a number of measures to fight COVID-19 in the country.

From May 31, the country eased coronavirus restrictions, which included lifting face mask mandate in open places and introduced COVID-19 passports.

The next stage of easing of lockdown entered force on June 10 and included the opening of places of worship, large trade centers, beaches, sports and recreational centers. Citizens are required to present COVID-19 passports to enter sports and recreational centers.

Likewise, Azerbaijan started vaccinating citizens using China’s Sinovac on January 18, Vaxzevria vaccine produced by AstraZeneca on May 3, Russia’s Sputnik V on May 18 and US-produced Pfizer on June 7. The country started offering COVID-19 vaccination to citizens aged over 18 from May 10. The nationwide vaccination is free and on a voluntary basis and is in line with the “Strategy of vaccination against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan for 2021-2022”.

Azerbaijan has registered 339,062 COVID-19 cases so far. Some 4,398,900 COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to the citizens to this date. The first dose of the vaccine was given to 2,597,118 citizens, and the second one to 1,801,782 citizens.