Coronavirus Spreads in Nagorno-Karabakh as Fighting Continues

People who are sick with the coronavirus fill cold basements with the healthy to hide from artillery¹ fire. The local health minister who has the virus keeps working. He has a higher than normal body temperature and is also sick with pneumonia². Doctors with the virus perform operations on the wounded.

These are the sad realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area of the South Caucasus mountains where Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting.

"We just don't have time to think about coronavirus," said Irina Musaelyan, who was sheltering with neighbors. She lives in Stepanakert, the main city in the separatist area.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic³ Armenian forces for more than 25 years. Those forces receive support from the government in Armenia.

The area is facing the largest escalation⁴ of fighting since a war there ended in 1994. Hundreds have been killed since the clashes⁵ started on September 27. Two attempts at ceasefires have failed.

The fighting has forced many people to ignore the danger of the coronavirus as they try to avoid the danger of the war. The virus spread as people crowded in shelters. There is no effort at contact tracing⁶.

Health care workers have been hit hard by the virus.

"Almost everyone got infected. Some had it in a light form and others in a more serious one," said Malvina Badalyan, talking about health care workers. He is a doctor and head of the infectious⁷ disease⁸ center in Stepanakert.

In the middle of a war, with the wounded crowding into hospitals, medical teams keep working.

"Many doctors and nurses knew that they were infected, but they kept mum about it," said Ararat Ohanjanyan. He is the health minister for Nagorno-Karabakh's government. "They may lie down...to bring the fever down and then get up and continue to perform operations."

"No one has the right now to step aside," he added.

When the latest fighting started, medical workers did not have the time or equipment to fight the virus, Ohanjanyan said.

"Stepanakert came under heavy shelling, and it allowed contagion⁹ to spread," he added.

Ohanjanyan also has the virus and he, too, has continued working with both a fever and pneumonia.

In the past week, the shelling of Stepanakert has become less intense¹⁰. Emergency health workers have been able to visit shelters and basements to find the sick, Ohanjanyan said. He added that regular testing has begun again, and the sick are being put in quarantine.

Patients in the most serious condition have been sent to Armenia.

Ohanjanyan said local officials still do not know how many people are infected.

Armenia supports the separatist area through a land corridor¹¹. The country has also reported a large increase in cases in recent weeks. The average of daily new infections has increased 200 percent since early October.

As Nagorno-Karabakh's medical system faced these problems, health workers and other people volunteered to bring medicine to those sheltering in basements and to find those who are sick.

Aram Gregorian, a doctor and volunteer, said the conditions in shelters helped fuel the spread of the virus.

The attacks force people into groups in basements, he explained, adding that those who clearly have the virus "can't get treatment or go to the hospital."

Words in This Story

basement – n. the area underneath¹² a house

pneumonia – n. an illness caused by inflammation of the lungs

pandemic – n. a contagious¹³ disease that travels to many countries

escalation – n. the act of increasing, getting better or worse

contact tracing - n. a public health measure that follows the many contacts of a single sick person

mum – adj. quiet, to refuse to speak

contagion – n. a disease that spreads

quarantine – v. the act of isolating¹⁴ someone with a contagious disease

corridor – n. a hallway, or pathway

1 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

2 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

5 clashes   

冲突( clash的名词复数 )； 不协调； （两群人之间的）打斗

参考例句：

• Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators. 警方与示威者发生了冲突。
• Several policemen were injured in the clashes. 几名警察在冲突中受伤。

6 tracing   

追踪； 追查； 描摹； 摹图

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。
• He knew they were tracing him. 他知道他们正在追踪他。

7 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

8 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

9 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

10 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

11 corridor   

n.走廊，回廊，通路

参考例句：

• The corridor opens into Mr.Brown's office.这条走廊通到布朗先生的办公室。
• There was a ring of laughter in the corridor.走廊里传来响亮的笑声。

12 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

13 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

14 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句