YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The Mayor of Tsakhkadzor Artur Harutyunyan has clarified a statement of Kotayk Governor Romanos Petrosyan who said the former has gifted flowers to the quarantined persons at the defunct Golden Palace hotel in the resort town.

Harutyunyan says he hasn’t entered the facility and that he gave the flowers to the hazmat personnel to pass it down to the people inside.

“I conveyed the rose bouquets to the special personnel, I didn’t go up because it is under strict control and no one is allowed to enter,” the mayor said.

In turn, the Healthcare Ministry told ARMENPRESS that no one is allowed to enter the hotel since it is a quarantine zone.

Armenia reported its first novel coronavirus case on March 1. The virus was confirmed in an Armenian man who traveled to Iran. He was hospitalized in Yerevan, while his direct contacts were taken to the Tsakhkadzor resort town’s previously defunct Golden Palace hotel. The hotel was quickly re-launched by healthcare authorities and the 31 quarantined people have all necessary conditions, including food service, internet etc.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan