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That’s it for today, join us again tomorrow for more Coronavirus live updates.

Krasnodar Krai ‘is reaching it’s plateau’

Tatyana Grechanaya, deputy head of the Rospotrebnadzor of Krasnodar Krai, believes that the region is ‘gradually reaching’ a ‘plateau’ in the growth of the numbers of COVID-19 cases.

According to her, the growth rate in the number of new cases averages to 7% per week.

Masks mandatory in Karachay-Cherkessia

From today going forward, in Karachay-Cherkessia, everyone without exception must wear masks in all retail shops, pharmacies, medical institutions, and any other enterprises that are continuing to operate. 

Residents must also wear masks in taxis and on public transportation.  

Azerbaijan opens first module hospital

Azerbaijan’s first module hospital, which was built in only three weeks, opened in Baku today. 

The  3000 square meter complex consists of three buildings, 100 wards and 200 beds. 

Azerbaijan plans to open five more module hospitals by the end of May, and four by the end of June. 

Authorities in Adygea call for plasma donations

The Republican Blood Transfusion Station in Adygea appealed to citizens who had recovered from a mild to moderate case of COVID-19 with a request to donate blood plasma in order to use it for the treatment of other patients with the virus.

According to the Ministry of Health, those wishing to donate blood plasma must organise their visit with relevant authorities by first calling 8 (8772) 55-71-69.

A day after the first confirmed case, COVID-19 cases in South Ossetia reach 11

The number of those infected with COVID-19 in South Ossetia has reached 11 today, South Ossetian state-owned news agency RES quoted Deputy Chief Medical Officer Anna Gagloyeva as saying.

She further stated that the total number of South Ossetian students who had returned from Russian military schools recently and were currently in quarantine was 160.

Without giving a specific number, the local authorities confirmed that some of the students had tested positive for COVID-19.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Georgian PM: Tbilisi, Rustavi, and Gardabani to reopen next week

Citing a ‘relatively better epidemiological situation’, Gakharia stated that it will once again be allowed to enter and exit Tbilisi starting on 11 May. The same restrictions will be lifted in Rustavi and Gardabani on 14 May. 

The municipality of Marneuli, which has been under harsher self-isolation measures as it has been a hotspot for COVID-19, will reopen 18 May. 

He urged Georgians to continue social distancing and to keep wearing face masks.

Gakharia also vowed to allow ‘all production’ to restart and all retail shops that have entrance to a street to reopen on 11 May. Footwear and clothing shops are excluded. Malls will also remain closed.

For now, the nationwide curfew remains in place. Georgia’s State of Emergency is set to expire on 22 May. 

Georgian PM: Country to reopen for international tourism in July

In a briefing held today, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced that the Georgian government plans to allow international tourists to visit Georgia from 1 July. 

Domestic tourism will be allowed from 15 June.

Gakharia said that the Georgian tourist industry already had accumulated experience in handling tourists in high-risk settings given that, according to him, they already hosted 19,000 Georgian citizens in quarantine. 

The Georgian PM also said that Georgia could come up with special tourist ‘zones’ that would be secured against COVID-19 and named Tskaltubo, Gudauri, Sairme, Abastumani, and Borjomi as possible locations.

He added that the Georgian tourism sector will be free from paying property taxes in 2020 and that income tax payments will be postponed. 

Doctor dies from COVID-19 in North Ossetia

In North Ossetia–Alania, a doctor who had treated patients infected with the novel coronavirus has died after contracting the disease. Her death was announced by the Minister of Health of the republic Tamerlan Gogichaev on the state-owned TV channel Ossetia-Iryston. 

According to the Minister, more than 200 medical workers including doctors, nurses, orderlies, cleaners, and ambulance drivers, have COVID-19.

South Ossetia to ‘close border with Russia without exceptions’ 

Following the first three confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the region, South Ossetian authorities have announced that they will be ‘closing the border with Russia without exceptions’ from 10 May to 17 May. 

[Read more on OC Media: South Ossetia confirms first three coronavirus cases]

South Ossetia’s government 'fully closed' the Roki-Nizhny Zaramag crossing with Russia’s North Ossetia on 5 April, saying that they would allow only Russian diplomats, military personnel, and cargo vehicles with special permits. 

This time, hours after confirming the outbreak of COVID-19 in the region, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov said that they needed 'time to examine [South Ossetian] citizens' that they had recently received 'in large groups'. 

Earlier, Bibilov's government said they were bringing home South Ossetian students who had been studying in military universities in Moscow, Ryazan, and Saint Petersburg.  

'I ask everyone again not to panic', Bibilov wrote on his Facebook page yesterday evening, asking South Ossetians to remain calm and not be ‘negative' about fellow citizens returning home. 

‘They are our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, students and cadets!!!’ he wrote.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Thursday, 7 May. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

South Ossetia confirmed its first three cases of COVID-19. The first was a 14-year-old boy who was a student at the North Caucasus Suvorovskoe Military School in Vladikavkaz. The other two were a woman and her 6-year-old son who the authorities said travelled to North Ossetia ‘for other medical conditions’ and tested positive upon their return.

Read more: South Ossetia confirms first three coronavirus cases.

Georgia’s Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze was captured on camera sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, which the state of emergency places restrictions on. Tikaradze said as a member of the government she was not subject to the rule and that it was ‘necessary to transport a maximum number of passengers via the minimal number of cars’.

A criminal investigation was launched in North Ossetia against Ramis Chirkinov, one of the organisers of a 20 April’s anti-lockdown protest in Vladikavkaz.

Three zoos in Stavropol Krai appealed to the public for help to pay for food and medicine for their animals. According to the Stavropol Zoo administration, these were previously purchased with funds from ticket sales which dropped off after self-isolation rules were introduced.

Read the latest stories:

• South Ossetia confirms first three coronavirus cases
• Protests in Azerbaijan over job losses and unpaid leave
• Critical shortages‘ of protective equipment reported in Daghestan’s hospitals
• Transgender woman sets herself on fire in Tbilisi
• Amnesty International questions Caucasus governments’ response to pandemic
• Georgian opposition demand answers after former official ‘breaches driving ban’
• Voice | The women on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Azerbaijan opposition party claims nearly a dozen members arrested in last two weeks
• Farmers in Georgia’s Marneuli protest inability to sell crops 
• Police clash with anti-stay-at-home protesters in North Ossetia 
• In pictures | Life under quarantine in Gyumri
• Georgian social workers forced to pay for taxis to visit domestic abuse victims