Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan has provided clarifications regarding cases of the coronavirus in the army, according to which, with the aim of preventing the spread of the coronavirus infection in the armed forces, extensive medical-preventive work has been carried out, creating the necessary conditions so that servicemen remain free from infection. The Minister noted that, nevertheless, it is not possible to prevent the penetration of the infection into the army, since a large mass of servicemen is in daily contact with the civilian population.
On 25 March, samples were taken from three servicemen of a military unit not involved in combat missions. As a result of the COVID-19 test, the coronavirus was diagnosed in the three servicemen. The presence of the coronavirus had earlier been confirmed in a family member of one of the servicemen. The confirmed cases of the three servicemen are interconnected and are linked to one of the primary outbreak clusters registered in the country. Based on the data of epidemiological investigations, the aforementioned servicemen had previously been in isolation, which significantly reduced the risks of further spread of the infection.
“The servicemen have now been transferred to hospital; their health condition is satisfactory, and pneumonia has not been recorded in any of them. One of the servicemen has a slight fever, while the other two have no fever or other symptoms characteristic of the disease.
I assure you that high-quality and effective medical care is being provided to the servicemen with symptoms of the coronavirus disease, and their lives are not in danger,” the Minister declared.
He informed that the entire circle of the servicemen’s contacts has been identified, and they too have been isolated.
Another 32 servicemen are being tested on suspicion of the presence of the virus.
“Extensive preventive initiatives continue to be undertaken in the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia. Strict restrictions are being applied in all military units to prevent the penetration of the infection, and daily monitoring of the servicemen’s health condition has been established. As a result of the comprehensive anti-epidemic measures implemented in the armed forces over the past month and the strict restrictions applied, the number of other no less dangerous infectious diseases has sharply decreased, which testifies to the effectiveness of the initiatives being implemented.
In particular, compared to the same period in previous years, cases of “acute respiratory diseases,” “chickenpox,” and “angina” have decreased 4 times, and there are currently no patients with intestinal infections among the armed forces personnel at all.
It is noteworthy that in recent years the incidence of “pneumonia” has decreased 5 times, and the number of “pneumonias” with severe course has decreased 10 times; “pneumonias” with irregular course and fatal outcome have not been recorded in the armed forces,” Davit Tonoyan summarized.
