CANBERRA: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has requested urgent Australian Government assistance for the Republic of Armenia, as it deals with a concerning increase in confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
A worrying rise in infections over recent weeks has seen the country's case total reach over 16,000, with a new single-day record of 817 set last week. Conversely in Australia, there have been 7,320 cases in total, with a current downward trajectory seeing only 5-10 new daily cases registered in the past week.
ANC-AU has been in contact with Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and obtained a list of medical equipment and supplies from the Ministry of Health, which the peak public affairs body of the Armenian-Australian community has shared with officials in Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and local private healthcare industry experts.
"Our community is very concerned about the increase in COVID-19 cases in Armenia – 16,000 cases, going up by hundreds per day, in a country with a population of only three million is truly debilitating," said ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian.
"It is our our duty to provide any assistance that we can to our sisters and brothers in Armenia, and it's our intention that a combination of our community and the Australian Government can contribute to reducing the burden on Armenia's Ministry of Health, by providing some of the equipment and medical supplies on their supplied list."
Whilst the Australian Government has prioritised international COVID-19 Aid for its Pacific neighbours, Kayserian said the ANC-AU hoped Canberra would consider their request in light of the positive outcomes of its own response to the pandemic.
"With Australia doing so well, registering single-figure daily cases on most days, we hope it will assist a country that has run out of hospital beds and needs assistance from those in more fortunate positions," Kayserian added.
