A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Before discussing the agenda items, the Prime Minister referred to the epidemiological situation in Armenia. He noted that less than 200 infections were registered daily during the past month, except for one day, which saw a spike up to 203 cases.

“The number of positive tests has considerably increased over the past few days. We had 257 infected people the day before, and 295 - yesterday. At the same time, the rate of exposure is quite high. Yesterday we operated 4319 tests, and 4135 - the day before. Nevertheless, the trend is disturbing, and I am convinced that we should pay more attention to this problem,” the Premier said, noting that perhaps it has to do with the opening of schools.

Nikol Pashinyan underlined that in practice there is one proven tool in the fight against the pandemic - the mandatory requirement of wearing a mask - which must be strictly observed. “I want to state that we must be more consistent in this matter, no policeman should turn a blind eye to people’s failure to wear a face mask,” the Head of Government said, highlighting the need to be consistent in preventive action and awareness-raising activities.

Down to the agenda, the Government first approved a decision to provide financial assistance to 12 families that used to live in the residential building, which collapsed on August 26 in the Kanaker-Zeytun administrative district of Yerevan.

The amount of assistance was calculated, based on data available from the Cadastre Committee concerning the area of each apartment and the cadastral value of 1 square meter. The amount will be allocated from the Government’s reserve fund.

Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan stated in this connection that the reasons behind the collapse need to be identified; the consequences will have to be discussed and understood, because this expense should be deemed as compensation for damage caused through someone’s fault.

“This fact has been given due consideration. The investigators will of course find out the circumstances that led to the collapse. In the meantime, we need to respond as quickly as possible, regardless of the probe’s findings. Our decision comes less than a month after the incident,” Prime Minister Pashinyan said. It was also noted that the affected families are currently living on rent with the support of the government.

The Executive made a decision in an effort to complete the construction of the Geghardalich gravity system, which is implemented under the Irrigation Systems Efficiency Improvement Program. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Suren Papikyan advised that relevant agreements have been reached with the residents, and the project can start immediately after the tender. 152 million drams shall be earmarked for the construction of an irrigation pipeline.

The Government adopted a decision stipulating that bookmaker’s offices and gambling lounges should be stationed at a reasonable distance from educational, historical and cultural centers, administrative buildings and hospitals.

According to another decision, a 15,000 square meter- wide plot of land belonging to APG Labs AM LLC, located at 16, Halabyan Street will be handed over to the Simonian Educational Foundation exclusively for the construction of the EU Tumo Engineering and Applied Science Complex. The reference note says that the Complex is meant to provide an advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) ecosystem for young people. The European Union has allocated 12.5 million euros.