Today we have the worst case scenario of the epidemic, - the Minister of Health Ekaterine Tikaradze told reporters. Regarding the new regulations announced yesterday, the Minister noted that all of them are very important, although often financial penalties alone are not effective in controlling human behavior.

"We did the modeling in the previous period and today we have the worst case scenario of the epidemic. I really want it not to continue like this and I will do my best to manage the infection as much as possible. I will not hide and say that starting from the first wave we have always had an argument about which type of regulation is more effective, more necessary, or more reasonable and timely. I will say that any regulation is important today, however, the most important thing beyond regulation is - for me as a healthcare professional and not just the Minister - enforcing these regulations properly, if these regulations are enforced properly then I am sure we can deter this infection to some extent. It will not have an 80 or 90% effect, although this can have an effect of about 20%, and this is also very important to reduce the rate of infection. All the regulations announced yesterday are important to be enforced with the utmost precision that will be outlined out in the ordinance. Based on my Western practice, I often see what is effective and what is not - very often financial penalties only are not effective in controlling human behavior, which is why I often use the words "conscientiousness" and "reasonableness", which are not mentioned in any book and it cannot be achieved through any financial penalty. I once again ask the citizens to take care of their health and that of their family members, all this will definitely affect the positive dynamics of the state that we need today", - Tikaradze said.

source: IPN