BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan tightened quarantine rules on Friday and banned walking in parks and boulevards from March 29 in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the government said.
The country of around 10 million in the South Caucasus had reported 165 coronavirus cases as of Friday, with three deaths. Authorities said 15 patients had recovered.
The government had also banned the movement of vehicles between regions and cities across the country, and limited the operating hours of Baku’s metro system to five hours a day.
Police were patrolling streets in the cities by cars, asking people from loudspeakers to stay at home.
The ex-Soviet country on Thursday extended holidays related to its traditional Nowruz celebrations until April 4, from a previous end date of March 29, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In neighboring Georgia, where the number of coronavirus cases rose to 81 as of Friday, authorities started to fine those, who violate quarantine or isolation rules.
Armenia reported 329 cases of coronavirus, the highest number in the South Caucasus region. One patient died, while 18 recovered.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Alex Richardson)
