A 36-year-old resident of Pervuralsk, Russia, was fined 30,000 rubles for writing a comment that said, “the coronavirus does not exist, everything is just a global game of politicians.”

The woman pleaded guilty but did not avoid the fine on the grounds that such allegedly harmless comments are interpreted by the judiciary as a covert act of social misinformation.

In Armenia, there are both hidden and ordinary residents, current and former doctors and members of the National Assembly who act similarly, and not only with words, but also in their person and behavior.

Even though we have been told to wear a mask in public places as per the decision of the commandant, starting June 3, it is not enough that some deputies do not wear a mask on the air, they also mislead the public.

Prosperous Armenia MP Gevorg Petrosyan can be considered a leader of the campaign against masks. Recently on ArmNews, he mocked those wearing masks, “they put on a mask of lies.” Naira Zohrabyan, a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), made public the medical instruction that “it is forbidden to wear a mask in the sun and rain,” which is an additional occasion and topic for our compatriots online to discuss how masks are suffocating.

Specifically, on June 12, PAP MP Iveta Tonoyan was without a mask on Channel 5, and the next day, Vahe Enfiajyan. Literate, multi-faceted Iveta Tonoyan is writing a really tolerable propaganda text, following the usual slips of the party leader’s tongue with the vigilance of a bodyguard.

Judging by the press reports, Gagik Tsarukyan appreciates Tonoyan so much that every time he sighs, “What will we do if this girl gets married?” The girl, again judging by the press reports, got married, but this didn’t hurt her support system.

The smart lady was talking on the air without a mask, which stood out in the context that it is difficult to up a person, whether it be a host or a guest, without a mask on Armenian air, when the Prime Minister was talking about going through hell with artistic nuances.

We witnessed the most hopeless scene of unmasked deputies, for propaganda reasons, on the air of Shant TV. A young man (student or employee) holding a diploma was walking on the street, disregarding the camera and the old woman who called on him to snap him out of it, responded with the statement “Would you have me suffocate?” And continued his march.

These deputies and people with such behavior can hardly think of breaking the chain of infection themselves.

“My sister also got infected, but I still don’t believe it”

Restrictions imposed by the extension of the state of emergency allow the epidemic situation in the country to be observed in one community during a conversation with a neighbor.

– “Why are you standing at the gate? You’re not coming in.”

– For your safety.

– Do you also believe in it?

– ? (surprised).

– “Didn’t you know? My sister was infected too, but I still don’t believe it.”

She is a woman in her seventies, what can you say, but since the forty-year-old boy and the bride agree with these words, the situation becomes even more hopeless. If times were good, a conversation around a cup of coffee might have broken the disbelief with facts.

However, this general fever of “disbelief” is a powerful force, and since the beginning of the epidemic, it has been as if a distracting and exhausting Turkish agenda has been imposed (whether there was a genocide or not, whether there is a virus or not, whether to wear a mask or not).

What do you think of these mystical manifestations of disbelief? It seems that before March 1, the newly discovered virus first sent to Armenia the bacteria of doubt, disbelief, seeing and forgetting, only to appear to rule for a longer term.

Surprisingly, people who a priori (without experience) love Tsarukyan (they really do) do not believe in the virus even if their sister has been infected.

The Prime Minister is upset, we become bitter

Recently, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mixed his traditional optimistic style with disappointment.

“I am bitter not only because of the numbers. Today I came to work from Sevan. It showed, even from the car window, that people continue to disregard anti-epidemic rules. I started to think that the problem here went beyond the coronavirus… It’s a feeling that people are walking to the resuscitation department, I wanted to go down and say, stop, dear people. This is how we go to a very bad place … Not many people notice that it is not so much a health issue as there is a public, behavioral and disciplinary issue in this situation.”

Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan is also doing non-standard things to prevent the number of infections.

“From now on, I will publish information about the address of infected people several times a day down to the street or district, so that our citizens will think for a moment if, after all, is it necessary to go down to the yard for this or that occupation without any vital need?””From now on, I will publish information about the address of infected people several times a day down to the street or district, so that our citizens will think for a moment if, after all, is it necessary to go down to the yard for this or that occupation without any vital need?”

The first few weeks of the state of emergency have been the same for two months, and many have been talking about it, and it’s surprising that the Prime Minister is only focusing on that point.

Probably, Mr. Pashinyan was so grateful and satisfied with the people who carried out the revolution and was so proud of it, it’s as if he had forgotten the other manifestations of the previous decades of the same people (10 thousand AMD spent in five minutes from the people who sold their vote for 5 years).

Now, how can we, the same people, become proud and change in two years?

Recording and raising awareness of the fact is considered a good sign, since the Prime Minister’s urgings were then followed by original and ordinary behaviors, sometimes with different settings in one day – policemen in civilian clothes, not making exceptions in fines.

“Such rumors are circulating that the administrative fines that have been imposed so far will be lifted. I want to say that such hopes are in vain because the penalties for anti-epidemic rules will not be lifted.”

The Prime Minister’s call to the National Assembly: “Attention, dear compatriots, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan speaks. Dear compatriots, there is a coronavirus epidemic in the Republic of Armenia … ”, which was also heard from police cars, would probably have been more effective and useful if it had been heard earlier, say, at least a month ago.

Gayane Mkrtchyan

The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.