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The situation related to the coronavirus pandemic continues to improve in Armenia, however the daily new cases still remain high, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Some 15% of the daily tests for Covid-19 produce positive results instead of the 25-30% positive results recorded in the past, the premier said. Accordingly, the government plans to change its tactics of identifying new cases, he added.

“The Ministry of Health will be more proactive and will visit certain at-risk groups, collectives, factories on its own initiative and make diagnoses. This practice will allow us to finally overcome the pandemic,” Pashinyan added.

Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said, in turn, that the ministry will take the responsibility of performing tests among employees of the facilities, collectives and residents at increased risk for Covid-19.

"That groups comprises supermarkets, factories, closed institutions, banks, district administrations, mental health centers, etc. If we identify a single case in these institutions, we will not wait for the rest to develop symptoms in order to diagnose them. We will test them immediately,” Torosyan said.

The minister said a recent testing at a mental health center has revealed that 25 out of its 350 members are infected with coronavirus.

“Those people had no symptoms, but we identified them,” he said.

68 coronavirus patients are currently in critical condition, while 300 others are in serious condition in Armenia, Pashinyan said, highlighting the numbers have significantly declined.

He again urged people to strictly abide by all anti-coronavirus rules, including wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and disinfecting hands.