YEREVAN, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian had a telephone conversation with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, the Armenian President’s Office told Armenpress.

The two Presidents discussed the current situation caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) both in Armenia and Italy.

The Presidents exchanged views on the actions to prevent the spread of the disease. They highlighted the coordinated and balanced actions of the authorities and the necessity of responsible behavior of citizens.

President Mattarella introduced the situation in Italy in this respect, as well as the positive and negative sides of the actions taken to reduce and restore the damages caused to the country’s economy due to the virus.

The Armenian President expressed his support to his Italian counterpart and the people of Italy and stated that Armenia is also taking respective steps to maintain the population’s health and tackle the new virus.

They highlighted the cooperation between the two countries and respective structures which will bring a contribution to increasing the efficiency of the fight against the disease.

The Armenian and Italian President agreed to regularly exchange information on the matter in the future.

Italy is currently the second after China in terms of the largest number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

So far, 30 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Armenia, one patient has recovered.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan