COVID-19 Patients Transferred from Quarantined Village to Hospital after Locals Confront Doctors
The Bolnisi Municipality City Hall announced on May 2 that COVID-19 patients from the village of Mushevani have been transferred to hospitals in Tbilisi following a skirmish that erupted in the village between locals and medical personnel a day earlier.
Police and representatives of the Bolnisi Municipality City Hall were present on the site of incident. As a result of the skirmishes, emergency vehicle, as well as a car owned by the municipality were damaged, according to MP Gogi Meshveliani, who represents Bolnisi constituency in the Georgian Parliament.
Radio Marneuli reported citing one of the locals who preferred to remain unidentified that “there is no virus in the village and doctors are simply taking people with fever to hospitals due to the increased coronavirus cases.”
Elmaddin Mammadli, an activist from Bolnisi, reported that the medics were confronted not by the whole village, but a few local youngsters, that were drunk following May 1 celebrations.
Georgian Interior Ministry told Civil.ge today that the probe into the incident was launched under article 187 of the Criminal Code, dealing with property damage and destruction. Interrogation of the persons connected to the incident is underway, the Ministry added. The police have also confirmed that two vehicles have been “slightly damaged.”
In a statement released on May 2, the Bolnisi Municipality City Hall said that Mayor of Bolnisi Davit Sherazadishvili, majoritarian MP Gogi Meshveliani and chairman of local municipality council (Sakrebulo), Tamaz Zhorzholiani arrived in the village
As a result of intervention by the Mayor’s and MP Meshveliani the “problem is solved,” reads the statement, adding that “the situation remains stable currently in Mushevani.”
Top Georgian physicians from the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) visited Marneuli today, that was put under lockdown by the Georgian authorities together with Bolnisi Municipality on March 23.
Speaking at the meeting with Governor of Kvemo Kartli Region, Shota Rekhviashvili in Marneuli on May 2, Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of NCDC, said that “certain political processes are apparently underway” in Mushevani.
Governor Rekhviashvili remarked that the yesterday’s incident “was criminal rather than political,” stressing that the processes are kept under control.
Amiran Gamkrelidze stressed the importance of providing locals with accurate information about the novel coronavirus in a language they understand.
The village of Mushevani was shut down and placed under strict quarantine regime on April 25 in a bid to stem “large-scale” spread of coronavirus.
Bolnisi Municipality is one of the worst-hit locations of coronavirus outbreak in Georgia. Along with Mushevani, the villages of Khatisopeli, Rachisubani, Kvemo Bolnisi, Savaneti, Balichi, as well as mining town of Kazreti hamlet and a town of Bolnisi are put under strict quarantine regime due to high epidemiological risk in the area.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
