BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 6
By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend:
Tourism was the first among those industries that suffered losses due to coronavirus, said Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Natia Turnava, Trend reports citing Georgian media.
According to her, the restoration of the tourism sector will depend on international development, since foreign tourists are the main contributors to this industry in Georgia.
“According to the forecast of the Asian Development Bank, the Georgian economy will not grow this year. Perhaps, domestic tourism will develop faster as soon as we are safe and overcome this challenge. But the main contributor to the development of the sector was international tourism. Therefore, this is a multiple process that depends not only on us and our actions,” said Turnava.
The minister added that the government is working on an economic stimulus plan that will help the economy recover quickly in the post-crisis period.
Georgia reported the second death from COVID-19 infection on April 5. The first case of death from coronavirus in Georgia was reported on April 4.
A total of 36 individuals have recovered out of the 170 confirmed cases since February 26.
Currently, 5,067 people are under quarantine to avoid the further spread of coronavirus in Georgia. Meanwhile, 330 individuals remain under the medical observation in different hospitals in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and regions.
On March 21, Georgia declared a state of emergency until April 21 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
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