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The Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled that the requirement for workers to undergo Covid-19 testing at their own expense is “unconstitutional”.

The matter concerns the August 20 order of Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan obliging employees to either get vaccinated against Covid-19 or take PCR tests at their own expense every 14 days.

The verdict, read out by Constitutional Court Chairman Arman Dilanyan on Thursday, says that the phrase “at their own expense” in the order runs counter to Parts 1 and 2 of Article 6, as well as Article 39 of the Constitution.

The Hayastan opposition faction in the parliament applied to the top court, challenging the legality of the minister’s decision late in September. Now the Constitutional Court has ruled that employees cannot be required to take periodic coronavirus tests at their own expense.