Armenian PM self-isolating after positive Covid test

YEREVAN: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is self-isolating after testing positive for the coronavirus, his government said on Wednesday.

“The prime minister of Armenia took a coronavirus test, which came back positive,” the Armenian government said in a statement.

It said Pashinyan was asymptomatic and self-isolating as required, and would continue to work remotely.

Pashinyan and his family also had coronavirus in June 2020.

The ex-Soviet republic with a population of around three million people has registered 355,662 coronavirus cases and 8,033 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Armenia has faced a period of instability after accepting defeat and suffering territorial losses in late 2020 in a war with arch-foe Azerbaijan over the exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Pashinyan faced pressure at home over the controversial truce with Baku as protesters staged rallies and demanded his resignation.

In the summer, Pashinyan called for snap parliamentary polls that were won by his party but discontent over the war continues to simmer.

Last week, Armenia’s President Armen Sarkisian announced that was resigning from his post — a largely ceremonial role — over a lack of influence during times of national crisis.