BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21
Trend:
Everyone should take care of themselves and their loved ones, be aware of their responsibility and observe discipline, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in his interview with Azerbaijan Television after viewing the DOST center No3 of the Sustainable and Operative Social Security Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population in Nizami district, Baku, Trend reports.
“The work related to the coronavirus has been carried out in the right direction in Azerbaijan from the very beginning. This is approved and acknowledged by both the Azerbaijani people and international organizations. I am still receiving hundreds of letters from citizens every day, and all these are letters of gratitude because the adoption of preventive measures indeed saved us from serious problems. Again, everything is relative. What is the situation like in developed countries with about the same population as Azerbaijan’s? In some of them, about 10,000 people have died to date. There are very few deaths in Azerbaijan. At the same time, preventive and restrictive measures have enabled us to prevent the extensive spread of the pandemic and we succeeded in that. It is no coincidence that the World Health Organization appreciates our work in this area and describes Azerbaijan as an exemplary country. This is a high assessment of our work. I do not know if any other country has received such an assessment. This is truly a logical result of the work done, because our main goal since the very beginning has been to protect our citizens from this disease,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
He noted that all other economic issues, the economic downturn, possible problems have been put on a backburner even though we seriously dealt with these issues as well.
“However, the first priority was people's health and the second their social security. We organized both. I can say that we have been able to quickly rebuild our healthcare system. Currently, more than 20 hospitals in our country operate exclusively in connection with coronavirus. Only those infected with coronavirus are treated there – we currently have 19 hospitals engaged because there are no more patients in some hospitals today. However, more than 20 hospitals are ready, the construction of 10 modular hospitals has begun and I took part in the opening of one of them. This will provide us with an extra 2,000 beds. All medical equipment is provided, artificial respiration equipment has been delivered, there is enough room in intensive care units, there are enough beds. The number of quarantined persons is directly related to the number of arrivals from abroad, because we keep our citizens evacuated from abroad in quarantine for two weeks. I must say that more than 20,000 Azerbaijani citizens were evacuated from abroad in an organized manner. We cannot carry out this work spontaneously,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state pointed out that we are doing all this in an organized manner, according to schedule and distribution by country: from which country, when and how many citizens of Azerbaijan will arrive.
“This work will be continued in the same fashion. The largest number of our evacuees came from Russia. To date, 6,500 Azerbaijani citizens have arrived from Russia, and this process continues but, as I said, in an organized manner. Everyone must register, there is a special portal - “Going home”. Therefore, evacuation work will also be carried out in an organized manner. The quarantine conditions are excellent, I receive numerous letters from those in quarantine, we keep them in four to five star hotels. Currently, we have begun the production of medical masks, overalls and disinfectants. This is why these comprehensive measures, of course, saved us from major problems. In the current circumstances, when the mitigation process is under way, the main factor will be the responsibility of citizens. I want to say again that citizens should realize this responsibility: the pandemic has not ended, the virus has not disappeared and will spread. Therefore, everyone should take care of themselves and their loved ones, be aware of their responsibility and observe discipline,” said President Ilham Aliyev.