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Amid a rise in the number of flu and acute respiratory infection cases in Armenia, some polyclinics refuse a request for a doctor visit. The editorial office of Panorama.am received a call from a resident of Yerevan’s Shengavit administrative district. The citizen complained that they decided to call a doctor after all family members came down with a cold and run a high temperature. An employee of the local polyclinic said in response to their call that they have only one doctor on duty who cannot visit patients in their homes.  The employee added that they will start providing services from January 11.

The response comes as a surprise given that January 8 is a working day by a decision of the government. Besides, Armenian Health Ministry announced that it set up a rapid response group to keep the epidemiological situation under control, while healthcare officials say that their key goal is disease prevention and increasing the role of primary health care.

According to official data, 433 cases of flu and acute respiratory infections (354 patients were those under the age of 18) were reported in Armenia as of January 6. 97 people were diagnosed with pneumonia.