The President of the country Mr. Ilham Aliyev: "Our main task is to protect the people against this disease and to save their lives.

A pandemic is mass spread of new infectious disease at global level that is easily transmitted from person to person. In accordance with general rules of the World Health Organization, people with acute respiratory infections should stay at home, minimize contact with family members and strangers, and isolate themselves if they feel any symptoms of the disease during a pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic not only caused many deaths, but also left the world countries face to face with a number of economic, financial, health and social problems. At present, even leading countries of the world look for ways to overcome the consequences of the pandemic and overcome this disaster with the least loss, however it is gratifying that our country, which is model country in view of its thoughtful and purposeful policy, has distinguished itself in positive sense on this matter. With the participation of the President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, three modular hospitals were opened in Baku city, Sumgait city and Saray village of Absheron region on June 9, 2020. The President of the country said during his speech: "Our main task is to protect the people against this disease and to save their lives. Of course, there are some losses, however, compared to some countries, the situation in Azerbaijan is much better. It shows that if there is well-thought-out policy, unity between the people and the government and strong belief in the measures taken by the state, there will be also a result." Since the first day when the infection fact was registered, Azerbaijan, in close cooperation with the World Health Organization, has taken important measures to protect the health of the population and prevent wider spread of the pandemic. Another point is related to the work in socio-economic field. Thus, operational projects are being realized in Azerbaijan to reduce the influence of negative external processes on national economy, support entrepreneurs and employees working in the fields affected by the pandemic, protect jobs and ensure social protection of the population. In short, under the leadership of the President Ilham Aliyev, large-scale steps are being taken in our country against the coronavirus pandemic. Made decisions cover both the creation of legal framework, implementing necessary work in practical sphere, and measures of material support. In his speech at the opening of hospitals, Mr. President emphasized that for me, the health of people has always been in the first place. "Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic up to date, state of Azerbaijan has shown very great responsibility, first of all, within the country. Because there were two options: to save either the economy or people's health. Personally, for me, people's health has always been clearly and without hesitation top-of-mind, including during the pandemic. Therefore, we deliberately took restrictive steps, knowing that this would have negative influence on our economic activity." In conditions of a pandemic, the state does everything that is necessary, all the work being done in our country and the decisions being made have one goal: to protect the health of our citizens as much as possible. The measures taken during the pandemic proved once again that the President of Azerbaijan and the state are always close to their citizens. As well, every citizen must be close to their head of state, follow recommendations and instructions. Our people are always close to our President.