Acting Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze, who announced her resignation earlier this month, has stated in an annual report that more than 13,500 Covid deaths in Georgia reported since April 2020, is ‘dramatic’ for the small country. 

She says that the high death rate could have been caused both by the virus and poor management of  Covid-19 in several clinics across the country. 

Tikaradze says that salaries of doctors and nurses in Georgia is mainly low and that they have to work in different clinics. 

She said that 12 percent of doctors have four jobs, while 42 percent of doctors work in two different locations. 

“It is  hard to speak about the sustainability of the country’s health sector in this situation,” Tikaradze said. 

She stated that Georgia lacks specialists in several key directions like rheumatology and anesthesia. 

Tikaradze said, however, that the healthcare field is capable of enduring the waves ‘of any scale’ of Covid-19. 

She noted that ‘this does not mean people should not get the Covid-19 shot or observe general guidelines.’