YEREVAN, MARCH 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Co-Founder Noubar Afeyan, and IDeA Foundation Co-founder, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and UWC Dilijan International School Co-founder Ruben Vardanyan, Lord Ara Darzi, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College, London, McKinsey & Company executive Andre Andonian and Dr. David Nabarro participated in an online conference today titled “COVID-19: Challenging General Fear”.

During the online webinar the participants shared views on the current situation around the globe and also in Armenia caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In his remarks Dr. David Nabarro said in order to be protected from coronavirus it’s necessary to understand what kind of a disease it is. In terms of fighting the virus he made comparisons with other pandemics faced by humanity.

Thereafter, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan introduced the panelists on the COVID-19 situation in Armenia and the country’s fight against the disease.

“In the fight against coronavirus we isolate patients and urge citizens to self-quarantine if they had contacted infected people. We also isolate those citizens who are coming from the risky countries. At this moment the number of these countries is nearly 20”, the minister said.

Noubar Afeyan informed that the vaccine created by his company is currently at the stage of clinical testing. He expressed hope that the results will be ready in spring.

McKinsey & Company executive Andre Andonian commented on the topic from the perspective of economic impact. He said there are several scenarios in terms of the COVID-19 economic impact, from the best to the worst. Mr. Andonian said coronavirus will have the greatest impact on the US economy after the Second World War.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global pandemic and named the virus COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus have been reported in over 195 countries.

In Armenia, the total number of confirmed cases is 372 according to the latest data. 28 patients have recovered. One death case has been registered on March 26.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan