04 March 2020, 22:58
South Ossetia allows emergency departures of its residents for medical treatment in Georgia
Departure of residents of South Ossetia to Georgian hospitals is permitted, but upon their return, people will be subjected to quarantine for two weeks because of the coronavirus, the chief sanitary inspector of South Ossetia announces.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 27, South Ossetia completely closed for an indefinite period the border with Georgia, where a person infected with the coronavirus had been detected there. The Ministry for Public Health of South Ossetia admits there are no test systems for detecting coronavirus in the republic, but states that the question of their purchase has been raised.
All checkpoints on the border between South Ossetia and Georgia have been closed since September 2019. South Ossetia explained the closure of the border by arrangement of several Georgian border checkpoints. The Georgian authorities claim the closure of the border led to a humanitarian crisis in South Ossetia.
Despite the closure of the border, there may be urgent cases when patients need to be immediately transported to medical institutions in the Georgian territory, says at a government meeting Marina Kochieva, the chief sanitary inspector of South Ossetia.
"People who travel to Georgia for medical treatment and persons who accompany them should give their written consent to their compulsorily isolation and placement for quarantine for 14 days upon their return. We may encounter resistance related to the lack of understanding of the fact how serious the situation is. In such cases, we may involve the law enforcement bodies for compulsory placement for quarantine. I hope there will be still no need to involve law enforcers," said Marina Kochieva as quoted by the "Sputnik South Ossetia".
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 4, 2020 at 05:18 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
