Azerbaijan repatriates 20,000 citizens over COVID-19
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan has evacuated 20,000 of its citizens from foreign countries since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov said at a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CIS Minister held in the format of a videoconference on May 12.
“Evacuation of our citizens to their homeland, who were abroad, has become one of the most important tasks amidst the crisis. So far, all necessary measures have been taken to return our citizens from other countries. These measures are continuing, and so far, about 20,000 Azerbaijani citizens have been returned to the homeland,” Mammadyarov said.
Mammadyarov also spoke the importance of CIS as a platform “to discuss joint efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus infection, as well as to exchange experiences on the measures taken at the national level, support each other at the right time and strengthen solidarity between our peoples.”
Furthermore, he reminded that Azerbaijan has allocated $10 million to the WHO to fight COVID-19.
“Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both in the country and in the world. Demonstrating global solidarity, Azerbaijan has allocated $10 million to the World Health Organization for voluntary financial assistance in the fight against coronavirus. Azerbaijan has also provided financial and material assistance to individual countries,” the minister said.
Furthermore, he spoke about measures to curb the spread of coronavirus inside the country.
“Restrictive measures have been taken in accordance with the prevailing conditions. Thus, in February, an operational headquarters was established under the Cabinet of Ministers to prevent the entry and spread of new coronavirus infections in the territory of Azerbaijan. Since the beginning of March, the education process in all educational institutions has been gradually suspended in the country. All mass events planned on the territory of the country were postponed or cancelled. From the middle of March, a particular regime was introduced, including a number of social isolation measures, and from mid-March, a special quarantine regime was introduced,” Mammadyarov noted.
He said that all government resources have been mobilized and are being effectively implemented to fight COVID-19. The restrictive measures that were tightened periodically, have brought positive results, and for three weeks now positive dynamics have been observed in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan first introduced special quarantine regime on March 24 and since April 5, residents are required to obtain SMS permits to leave their homes.
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