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| - Virus cases have overwhelmed Armenia's hospitals, officials said Wednesday, raising the prospect that intensive care treatment could be restricted to patients with the best chance of survival. The tiny Caucasus nation of some three million has so far reported 7,774 coronavirus cases and 98 deaths. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said "the situation with the coronavirus pandemic is very severe in Armenia." Health ministry spokeswoman Alina Nikoghosyan told AFP: "if the current situation persists, in the coming days, intensive care will only be available for the patients with the best survival chances." Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said Sunday that out of the country's 186 intensive care beds for coronavirus patients, only 32 remained empty and would soon be filled. The prime minister called for stricter enforcement of measures aimed at containing the outbreak such as the wearing of face masks in public spaces. This comes after the country lifted a state of emergency on May 4 which it had declared in March because of the pandemic. Pashinyan said his government had failed to enforce anti-virus measures and there had been widespread quarantine violations. "Our mistake was that we put too much trust in our citizens' sense of responsibility," he said. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said he did not rule out that the government could have to impose a fresh nationwide lockdown. Analysts have criticised the government's handling of the crisis, saying a decision to close borders was taken too late and officials sent the public "confusing messages." "Officials were calling for the wearing of face masks, but they themselves didn't wear them until recently," said analyst Tatul Hakobyan. mkh-im/am/bsp
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