State of Emergency to be Extended until May 10 in Georgia

According to Giorgi Gakharia, the government will appeal to the president to address the Parliament in the coming days regarding the extension of the state of emergency until 10 May.

The head of government stressed that these are the essential steps that need to be taken in order for the country to move to a new stage of slowing the spread of the virus.

"I would like to call on every citizen - even though these restrictions are a huge inconvenience to our daily lives, as well as to our incomes, economy, business, companies, and jobs, this is an inevitability that we must accept and each and every one of us must treat this with a great deal of responsibility. This amounts to direct personal responsibility toward the community in which we live," Giorgi Gakharia stated.

According to the prime minister, the more precisely the imposed restrictions are observed, the sooner it will be possible to implement the relief plan developed by the government with regard to the economy and businesses. The head of government estimated that the gradual and consistent easing of restrictions will begin mid-May, though if the issued recommendations are not observed, he could not rule out that the lifting of restrictions might be delayed for months.

"The fight against COVID-19 is taking place on two fronts - those pertaining to the health of our citizens and the survival of our economy. Epidemiological risks and the stage during which the recovery of the economy will begin are directly linked. We must all agree that COVID-19 is an event in our lives that we have to put up with and we must get used to working and carrying on with our daily lives while wearing a face mask, as well as gloves; this is something that we must adapt to. Our healthcare system must be ready for the correct and successful management of a certain number of infected people," Giorgi Gakharia stated.

According to the prime minister's assessment, the relatively small number of infected persons in Georgia is due to the fact that certain restrictions on daily life were imposed at an early stage. The head of government believes that this gives Georgia an opportunity to be among the frontrunners when economic recovery begins, and this expectation is based on the predictions of international organizations, among others.