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Armenia is expanding the capacity of Yerevan’s hospital for infectious diseases amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country.

The construction of the modular reception hall of Nork Republican Infectious Clinical Hospital is in full swing at the moment, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said in a Facebook post, adding the hospital is expected to have 40 new wards in 3-4 days.

Earlier, when Armenia had only 6 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Panorama.am contacted the Ministry of Health to find out whether other hospitals in the country have the appropriate equipment and properly trained medical personnel to handle coronavirus patients. The press service of the ministry said that there are other medical centers with infectious diseases departments in the country.

“Naturally, if an epidemic emerges, they will be ready to serve [coronavirus patients]. But at the moment the cases are not widespread and there is no such need. They are only housed at Nork Infectious Clinical Hospital at the moment,” the ministry said.

According to the official data released late on Tuesday, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Armenia has risen to 78.