Fear, anger as Azerbaijan reinstates virus lockdown

BAKU: Anxiety mingled with anger in Azerbaijan as the Caspian nation reinstated Sunday a tight coronavirus lockdown to contain the surge in infections that followed the easing of restrictions weeks ago. Azerbaijanis will now only be allowed to leave home “once a day for a maximum of two hours after receiving permission via text message” from the authorities, Prime Minister Ali Asadov said in a statement. The new measures will remain in force until August 1 in the capital Baku and several other major cities and provinces. Shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, and hair salons were meanwhile ordered to close as of Sunday, along with cultural and educational institutions. The move came after the number of infections in the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation doubled in the space of the last two weeks. Overall, the country of around 10 million people has so far reported 12,238 cases of the coronavirus and 148 deaths. Azerbaijan imposed a state of emergency to contain the outbreak on March 24. It was then lifted on May 31, with most restrictions relaxed.

The state-run Centre for Social Studies said a recent survey showed that nearly 93 percent of Azerbaijanis are worried about a second wave of the pandemic. “Coronavirus statistics are worsening on a daily basis. This is frightening, I am afraid of a second wave,” 20-year-old student Leyla Guliyeva told AFP. She said a “repeat quarantine was a necessary measure to prevent the spread of the virus.