Expert: Azerbaijan's fight against pandemic was more successful than other countries

"Each country, including Azerbaijan, had its own strategy to deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that began in 2019 and the economic crisis it caused. Our country's fighting methods were successful and unique compared to other countries," expert Elvin Abbasov, commenting on the measures taken by the Azerbaijani government in the fight against the pandemic, told Report.

"Naturally, each country considered the financial situation and technological factors while preparing its strategy. It is impossible to fight coronavirus without taking these factors into account. Countries with more stable economies told their citizens that 'stay at home, we will provide you with assistance in the form of a social package!' However, Belarus and some other countries pursued a different policy. They believed that nature would protect people and that people would quickly adapt to the virus. Azerbaijan initially pursued a policy of closure and went into isolation. The goal was first to prevent the problem so as not to deal with it for a long time. Two years have passed, and we have the opportunity to compare the fighting models applied by the countries.

"During the pandemic, several times, Azerbaijan provided financial support of 190 manats ($111,76) to more than 600,000 people.

"It is enough to say just one fact that the social package, which consists of 10 measures approved by the head of state, covered 2.5 million people, and in total, about 690 thousand workers in the private sector and more than 900 thousand workers in the public sector were guaranteed employment with the maintenance of wages. But, at the same time, many countries of the world were forced to go for reductions.

"If we look at the statistics, we will see that official Baku not only protected its citizens but also provided financial assistance to about 80 countries through the World Health Organization (WHO)," Abbasov said.