Armenian president contracts Covid-19

FILE: Armen Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia 1996–1997, at the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo by Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) / Serkan Edeleklioglu – Cropped version of World Economic Forum Turkey 2008, CC BY-SA 2.0)

YEREVAN – Armenian President Armen Sarkissian who spent the New Year holidays in London with his family has tested positive for Covid-19, the President’s Executive Office informed the Hraparak newspaper on Tuesday.

“President Armen Sarkissian saw the New Year in in London with his family and grandchildren. On January 3, Sarkissian successfully underwent surgery on his leg in London. However, the president also developed symptoms of the novel coronavirus. His test was positive. President Sarkissian is self-isolating and will temporarily continue his activities remotely,” the Executive Office said.

Before being elected Armenia President in 2018, Armen Sarkissian served as Armenian ambassador to the UK. Some of his family still live there.

Armenia’s Covid-19 cases grew by 324 in the past 24 hours, increasing the total cases to 160,544 or 5.5 percent of the country’s 2.9 million population.

The country also logged 14 new deaths, bringing Covid-19 fatalities to 2,878. (TASS)