🦠 Coronavirus statistics for the past (from 19.07 to 25.07) week: the number of infected people has increased again.
10253 new cases (2441)
7508 recovered ( 2744)
5 died
🧪 Detectability (number of positive results out of the number of tests) 13.81% (2.97%)
The Centers for Disease Control clarified that the introduction of a mandatory mask regime in Georgia is not currently being considered. Most cases of the Omicron strain are easily tolerated, albeit with a high temperature.

🛫🇬🇪 Georgia air traffic news.
This week, three airlines have opened new or additional flights to the country:
🇱🇹🇪🇪 Lithuanian Getjet Airlines announced that from 15.08 it will start flights on the Vilnius-Batumi route, and then on the Batumi-Tallinn direction.
🇮🇱 Israeli "Arkia" opens a new destination in Georgia. From 07.08. flights on the Eilat-Batumi-Eilat route begin. Flights will operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.
🇹🇭 Thai-Malaysian "Thai Air Asia X" from October resumes flights to Thailand on the route Bangkok-Tbilisi-Bangkok.

🗣🇬🇪 Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the richest man in the country, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili broke his silence and published a large open letter.
“As a son of this country, naturally, I follow the events taking place in Georgia,” he begins his message. In it, he praised the ruling party for successfully avoiding “dragging Georgia into a war.” He called on the Georgian Dream not to inflict damage to relations with strategic partners, the EU and the US Mentioned that he met with the US Ambassador in March and they talked at length about the current situation. A lot of text is given to his dispute with Credit Suisse and writes that he wants to keep this problem personal without involving country: "since Georgia has practically overcome a difficult situation and is in the immediate threat of war, I prefer to leave the relationship between me and the Swiss bank my personal problem. The most important thing for me is that Georgia can finally get out of the most difficult situations and maintain peace, and I will decide my own question."
🖌 Full text in Georgian here.

❗️Ceramic plates from the supermarket "Domino" found a significant excess of lead levels.
The National Food Agency was notified of this through the RASFF Rapid Alert System of the Directorate of Health and Food Safety. This product has already been ordered to be withdrawn and disposed of. Buyers should refrain from using it.
ℹ️ Ambition Junior cymbals, diameter-19 cm, quantity-144 pcs, batch number-281799BB

🛫💣 An unknown person "mined" Minsk National Airport and a Belavia flight to Batumi yesterday.
According to the aviation security division, a message about a bomb was received by e-mail. It talked about the building of the airport terminal and the Belavia airline flight B2 738 Batumi - Minsk. Police officers at the air transport of Minsk airport did not find any dangerous objects and explosive devices.
ℹ️ Since the beginning of the year, there were 52 similar messages about mining.

🙈🇷🇺🚫 Tegeta, the largest auto parts and car repair network in Georgia, has installed unusual billboards in Adjara.
The innoscriptions on them say: "Russia is an occupant" and contains a call: "do not listen to the Russian music." A billboard adorns a road sign. It depicts a tank with a Russian flag with a microphone instead of a gun. This campaign is carried out under the auspices of caring for the culture of traffic.
“When 20% of the country is occupied, it is part of the culture that Russian songs would not be encountered while driving along the streets and roads. We are sure that we will be able to gather like-minded people and take care of the traffic culture together,” said the head of strategic communications at Tegeta Natika Berdzuli.
❗️A very strange decision of a Georgian company, hardly related to road safety. The neighboring billboard "We choose tolerance" is definitely more useful.

🚘🇬🇪 The Ministry of Regional Development announced the construction of a road to the mountainous Tusheti.
The 72-kilometer section is considered one of the most dangerous in Europe. Narrow road among the mountains with sharp cliffs and landslides, accessible only a few months a year. After numerous examinations, the government allocates 100 million lari (about $35 million) for its overhaul, installation, where possible, of asphalt pavement and drainage systems. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
ℹ️ The only way to get to Tusheti is the road that starts from the village of Pshaveli, was built in the 70s of the last century and passes through the Abano pass, which is located at an altitude of 2950 meters above sea level.

🇬🇪⚖️ Two unusual court decisions were made this week in Georgia.
📍Lawyer Levan Alapishvili won in the Tbilisi City Court, according to which the state will return to him .... 40 GEL. This money is his payment for 8 years for the emergency service "112". In Georgia, 40 tetri are automatically charged from all subscribers of mobile operators every month. It is worth noting that the majority of users did not share the opinion of the lawyer and consider the support of emergency services important.
📍The Gori District Court considered illegal the fines issued to Temur Pipiya and Aslan Gvarishvili. The first was fined for organizing a rally on May 9, 2022, the second for taking a copy of the victory banner into the public space. It was the hammer and sickle depicted on the banners that became the reason for the confrontation between the police and the protesters. Since 2011, communist ideology and symbols have been banned in Georgia by a law called the Freedom Charter. Based on it, the police detained the participants of the rally and fined two of them. However, the court considered the fact of the fine unlawful due to violations of procedural actions by the police.

🇬🇪👕🇺🇦 Creative director of Balenciaga, Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia, has become the ambassador of UNITED24 fundraising platform for Ukraine.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the company also created a t-shirt worth 200 euros, 100% of the profits from which will be transferred to the "restoration of Ukraine".

😢 On July 30, the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinist Terror will be held in Tbilisi.
The event will take place at St. Ingorokva No. 22, in front of the house where the former Cheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, predecessor of the KGB) was once located.
⏰ Promotion starts at 11:00.
According to the Laboratory for Research on the Soviet Past ("SovLab"), the event will feature photographs of victims who were imprisoned, repressed or shot. Participants of the event will read out their names and surnames.

🇬🇪⚽️⛔️ All four Georgian clubs that started in European competition failed to overcome the qualifying rounds and were eliminated from the competition.
Batumi "Dinamo" played a draw 1:1 with Poznan "Lech" (the first match 0-5), and the capital's "Saburtalo", after a sensational home victory, still lost 2-4 "Steaua" in Bucharest.

👮🏻‍♂️Patrol inspector sentenced in Tbilisi to five years in prison for beating a deaf-mute teenager in the subway.
8 out of 12 jurors convicted Nukri Bakradze.
In January, a young guy was beaten by patrolmen at the Isani metro station. Footage of what was happening then hit the Internet and caused a great resonance in society. Now they are blocked, as they are recognized as inhuman.
❗️ Fortunately, there were no serious consequences for the health of the teenager.

⚡️🚁 A rescue helicopter crashed in Gudauri.
There were eight people on board (crew, rescuers and doctors). It was carrying out search work for a paraglider that had fallen there two hours earlier.
📹 video Mtavari Archi

❗️Due to the helicopter crash in Gudauri, on the 94th kilometer of the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars road, movement in both directions of all types of transport is prohibited.
The Highway Department says the highway will be open once all emergency work has been completed.

👮🏻‍♂ The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reports that there were 8 people on board the helicopter that crashed in Gudauri.
Two crew members, two doctors and four rescuers. They all died.
🪂 The pilot of the paraglider was hospitalized, the passenger died, it was them that the rescue helicopter was looking for.

🇬🇪❗️ July 30 in Georgia, in connection with the tragedy in Gudauri, was declared a day of mourning.
The decree was signed by Prime Minister Garibashvili.
ℹ️ During a rescue operation, a helicopter crashed in the mountains, on board of which there were 8 people, all of them died.

🪂⛔️ All paragliding flights are suspended in Georgia.
"Until we get answers to all questions, flights will be suspended. Now they are a big problem. There are also facts of deaths. We must work to either tighten regulations or completely ban flights," Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said.
ℹ️ There have been several paragliding accidents in Georgia this year. Three people died.
❗️Today, a rescue helicopter crashed while looking for fallen glider pilots. 8 people died.

❤️🇬🇪🖤 Instead of posts, I publish a video of the Alazani Valley, which I made today.
Although there were some news today, but they all fade knowing the yesterday's tragedy. Condolences to the families of the victims.

❗️ Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili is leaving big politics.
This statement was made by the lawyer of the third president, Valerie Gelbakhiani. According to him, the main goal of the near future is to restore health.
ℹ️ After a series of hunger strikes and several months in prison, Sakashvili has been hospitalized for several weeks at the Vivamedi clinic and, according to doctors, cannot attend court hearings. The council of doctors assesses the condition of the ex-president as serious and, in case of improper treatment, can lead to irreversible consequences.

🇬🇪The main news about Georgia for the weekend (July 30-31).
📍 Saturday was a day of mourning for 9 people who died during the rescue operation in Gudauri, during which the helicopter of the border service crashed
📍 Former President Mikheil Saakashvili announces his retirement from politics
📍 due to public outcry, the show "Fort Rabat" may be canceled in the country - the Russian analogue of the TV game "Fort Boyard" was going to be filmed in the Rabat fortress
📍 the government plans to announce a new tender for the construction of the port of Anaklia
📍 citizens with scarce professions determined by the Hungarian government will have the opportunity to find a job in Hungary
📍 The Ministry of Internal Affairs urged to tighten the rules for paragliding or even ban this type of extreme sport
📍 8 persons detained in the case of the murder of a 20-year-old boy were sent by the court to a pre-trial detention center, the crime was committed in the vicinity of Tbilisi, the son of a famous doctor at a party was stabbed in the heart
📍 Two people fell into a well in Marneuli and died
📍 Georgia won five medals in the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament in Bucharest

🚂⛔️ Georgian Railway suspends flights from Tbilisi to Western Georgia for 3 days
Restrictions due to urgent technical work will be in effect on August 9, 10 and 11.
❗️ These days, it will be possible to get from the capital to Batumi and back only by buses or private transportation.