BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19
Trend:
I declare that today, an additional 20 million manats will be allocated from the President’s Contingency Fund both to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against this disease and to further increase material support of the doctors providing services to patients with coronavirus, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in his message of congratulation to the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of Novruz holiday, Trend reports.
“The coronavirus, of course, aggravates the situation. Despite all this, I believe that Azerbaijan will overcome this test with dignity and small losses. To achieve this, we all need to show solidarity, responsibility and unity. To protect our people and state in this difficult period for the whole world, we should once again demonstrate the whole world the best qualities of our people. As you know, coronavirus is the number one problem on the global agenda now. The World Health Organization has already declared a pandemic, stating that Europe is the center,” said the head of state.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that the extensive spread of this disease indicates that even developed countries cannot prevent it.
“There are no medicines and vaccines for this disease and it is not known when they will appear. Therefore, in order to contain this disease and prevent it from spreading, we began to take practical steps from first days. On my instructions, on 24 January, a Task Force was established under the Cabinet of Ministers. It operates on a round-the-clock basis, manages the activities of all government agencies, monitors and coordinates work related to the disease. Serious measures have been taken. Since 24 January, we started working in a new format of cooperation with the World Health Organization. We invited them to our country,” said the head of state.
President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that following their recommendations, we took the most serious measures in our country.
“It is no coincidence that the representatives of the World Health Organization who arrived in Azerbaijan in March to familiarize themselves with the situation noted that the country’s leadership is taking very important and effective measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. This is really the case. As you know, all kindergartens, schools and universities are now closed. A ban on public events has been introduced. Since 14 March, special rules of conduct have been applied and the public is sufficiently informed on this issue. On my instruction, people are regularly and fully updated about the disease, its spread and consequences. Quarantine measures are being taken, new laboratories have been acquired. In a short period of time, four state-of-the-art laboratories have been acquired and currently their number has reached 10. If necessary, additional laboratories will be acquired. Ten hospitals operate in a special mode. They are located in various regions of our country, including Baku. In hospitals, patients are treated and quarantine measures are taken,” said the head of state.
President Aliyev noted that communication with many countries is already limited and has practically been discontinued.
“Many flights have been canceled, practical action has been taken in connection with the closure of borders, the issuance of electronic visas has been suspended, the arrival of persons from countries with a wide spread of the disease in Azerbaijan is prohibited. I am sure that all these measures will have a positive impact. Our main goal is to prevent the spread of the disease in Azerbaijan. To achieve this, measures taken by the state alone are not enough. The state does everything necessary and allocates funds. In early March, 10 million manats were allocated to combat this disease. I declare that today, an additional 20 million manats will be allocated from the President’s Contingency Fund both to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against this disease and to further increase material support of the doctors providing services to patients with coronavirus. We are taking this into account as well,” said the head of state.