Patients at the Stepanakert Rehabilitation Center facing problems as a result of the blockade
The Lady Cox Rehabilitation Centre of Stepanakert has continued its activities despite the issues caused by Azerbaijan’s closure of the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia.
Heating is the biggest problem at the moment. Due to the gas supply being shut off, the center is using electric heaters, which are insufficient. The heating issues impact the quality of care the center is able to provide.
Patients receive three meals a day and there is a need for fruits and vegetables. Wood stoves have been installed to facilitate the timely preparation of meals for patients.
The center continues its home care program with great difficulties in the circumstances created by the blockade, delivering medical supplies to 350 families every month. As supplies have run out, diapers and bedsheets are no longer being delivered.
The Artsakh Ministry of Internal Affairs reports increased calls about broken elevators due to fluctuations in the power supply
Frequent power outages are causing elevators to break down when residents attempt to use them. To avoid such situations, the State Service of Emergency Situations urges all residents not to use elevators during rolling blackouts.
As a reminder, the rolling blackout schedule has recently changed, with there now being six blackouts per day, instead of the previous three.
The ICRC transported eight patients to Armenia
The transfer of patients from Artsakh to Armenia continues to be carried out exclusively with the mediation and accompaniment of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
As of February 16, 105 patients have been transported from Artsakh to Armenia by the ICRC.
47 Russian citizens, including eight children, have been relocated from Artsakh to Armenia
Russian peacekeepers have transferred 47 Russian citizens from Artsakh to Armenia. There were eight children in the group. Another approximately one hundred Russian citizens had earlier been moved from Stepanakert to Armenia.
Update of daily statistics
3 children are in the neonatal and intensive care units of the children’s hospital.
8 adult patients are in the intensive care unit, 5 of whom are in critical condition.
261 children have been born under the blockade.
About 660 people have been deprived of the opportunity to receive necessary medical treatment due to suspensions of planned surgeries in all medical facilities of Artsakh.
As of today, 105 patients have been transferred from Artsakh to Armenia to receive appropriate medical care with the mediation and accompaniment of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
755 business entities (17.7% of the total) have suspended their activities due to the impossible operating conditions under the blockade, while the remaining operate partially or with state support.
At least 5,100 people have lost jobs and sources of income as a result of the impact on the economy.
More than 26,800 tons of vital supplies, which would have been delivered during the period of the blockade, have not reached Artsakh. Only a meager amount has since been delivered by the ICRC and the Russian peacekeeping forces.
Key facts
For 68 days, the 120,000 people of Artsakh have been held hostage by a terroristic blockade carried out by agents of the Azerbaijani government.
As a result of the blockade, the 120,000 people of Artsakh, including about 30,000 children, 20,000 elderly, and 9,000 people with disabilities, are suffering numerous hardships and face a high risk of malnutrition and frostbite, among other rights violations.
41 kindergartens, 56 pre-school groups, and 20 day schools have been closed or partially operating since January 9 due to the worsening food shortage under the blockade.
6,828 children are either no longer able to attend school at all or unable to attend on a daylong basis, thereby being deprived of the opportunity to receive appropriate education and care.
Since the beginning of the blockade, many countries and international organizations have condemned Azerbaijan’s actions and called for the lifting of the blockade. The issue was also discussed in the UN Security Council, the European Court of Human Rights obliged Azerbaijan to take all necessary and sufficient measures to end the blockade, and the issue will soon be discussed in the UN’s International Court of Justice (The Hague) within the proceedings of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of Artsakh.
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