Azerbaijan Country Office COVID-19 Situation Report No. 6

Situation in Numbers Published on 15 May 2020 (as of 13 May 2020)

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS 2,758 • As of 13 May, 2,758 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, with 35 deaths and COVID-19 cases 1,789 recovered cases. The number of tests carried out as of 13 May had reached 208,546. • Starting from 5 May, a gradual lifting of the special quarantine regime was applied 35 including a resumption of service on the Baku Metro from 9 May. COVID-19 deaths • UNICEF Azerbaijan continued its joint campaign for young people with the Youth Foundation on social media focusing on staying healthy while at home, with a series of posts on yoga, simple physical exercises and art. 1,789 • 70 posters and 4,780 leaflets and brochures were distributed by young 50 volunteers people recovered amongst 1,790 families in Narimanov and Azizbekov Districts of Baku, Ganja, Goranboy and settlements for internally displaced persons from Kalbajar District in partnership with Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society. • UNICEF continued developing a series of interactive webinars on Basic Life Skills (BLS 1.9 million Remote) based on its face-to-face regular 16-lesson programme for the cross-country School and pre- network of Youth Houses. Session 2 on Emotional Regulation was conducted on 7 May school aged children reaching 1,599 people through social media live streaming and online meeting and young people platforms, with 800 participants being students of Vocational Education and Training affected by schools. school closures • A live session was held on social media platforms with three local experts on child health to provide parents and caregivers of young children with necessary advice/counselling on child health, infant and maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and US$ 1,235,185 vaccination of children during the COVID-19 outbreak, organized by the Public Health Planned budget Reform Centre (PHRC) and supported by UNICEF. A total 3,100 views were reported. • Preschool education classes developed with the support of UNICEF started on 23 April US$ 455,630 on two national television channels targeting children below the age of 5 nationwide. Funding gap The early education videos are also available at the Parenting Education Portal developed with UNICEF support. Over 55,000 children under 5 were reached during the period of 4-14 May by the distance preschool education classes on television. • UNICEF initiated a new partnership with the “Reliable Future” Social Initiatives Public Union and the national Mental Health Center of the Ministry of Health to strengthen capacity of mental health and psychosocial social services in the education sector; provide effective prevention and response to violence against children via a Child Helpline and rehabilitation services during and after the COVID-19 period. • All preparatory work for the real-time monitoring of social media and social was completed during the reporting period, including initial discussions with a research company to agree on the topics and subtopics for monitoring, identifying related keywords in all possible variations and potential influencers to be tracked.

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SITUATION OVERVIEW & HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

OVERALL SITUATION UPDATES

2,758 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed as of 13 May, with 35 deaths and 1,789 recovered cases. The number of tests carried out as of 13 May had reached 208,546.

People in the quarantine Date Total confirmed cases Total deaths Total recovered cases facilities at the time 13 March 19 1 3 - 16 March 25 1 6 - 17 March 25 1 6 - 18 March 34 1 10 - 20 March 44 1 10 - 23 March 65 1 10 - 24 March 72 1 10 Around 1,000 25 March 87 1 10 - 26 March 93 2 10 2,914 27 March 122 3 15 Over 3,000 30 March 209 4 15 - 31 March 273 4 26 4,085 1 April 297 5 26 - 2 April 359 5 26 4,518 3 April 443 5 32 4,321 6 April 584 7 32 - 7 April 641 7 44 - 8 April 717 8 44 - 9 April 822 8 63 Over 3,000 10 April 926 9 101 - 12 April 1,098 11 250 2,840 13 April 1,148 12 289 2,373 14 April 1,197 13 351 - 15 April 1,253 13 404 - 16 April 1,283 15 460 - 19 April 1,398 19 712 - 20 April 1,436 19 791 - 21 April 1,480 20 865 - 22 April 1,518 20 907 - 23 April 1,548 20 948 - 24 April 1,592 21 1,013 1,000 25 April 1,617 21 1.080 - 26 April 1,645 21 1,139 - 27 April 1,678 22 1,162 - 28 April 1,717 22 1,221 - 29 April 1,766 23 1,267 - 1 May 1,804 24 1,325 - 3 May 1,932 25 1,365 - 4 May 1,984 26 1,480 - 5 May 2,060 26 1,508 - 6 May 2,127 28 1,536 - 7 May 2,204 28 1,551 - 10 May 2,519 32 1,650 -

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11 May 2,589 32 1,680 - 12 May 2,694 33 1,735 - 13 May 2,758 35 1,789 - Table 1: Number of confirmed cases, deaths, recovered cases, people in the quarantine facilities due to COVID-19 in Azerbaijan

• Government of Azerbaijan provides more disaggregation of cases: - Baku – 47.5%; Ganja-Gazakh – 13.6%; Aran – 10.2%; Lankaran – 9.4%; Absheron – 5.5%; Guba-Khachmaz – 1.8%; Shaki- Zagatala – 1.0%; Mountainous Shirvan – 1.0%; Upper Garabagh – 0.8%; and Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic – 0.2%. The share of imported cases stands at 9.1%; - Distribution of the COVID-19 cases by gender: women – 57%; men – 43%; - Fatality rate by age groups: 40-49 - 3%; 50-59 - 23%; 60-69 - 42%; 70 -79 - 19%; 80 and older - 13%.

• Starting from 5 May, a gradual lifting of the special quarantine regime was applied including resumption of services on the Baku Metro from 9 May. • Azerbaijan opened the first modular hospital on 7 May. The 3000-square-metre complex consists of three buildings, 100 wards, and 200 beds. The country plans to open five more modular hospitals by the end of May, and another four by the end of June. Another face mask factory and protective coverall plant opened on 12 May. The factory will have an initial daily production capacity of 140,000 disposable masks. Extra equipment will be installed by the end of May, allowing and increase in production capacity to 300,000 masks per day and 6,000 disposable protective coveralls. • The Ministry of Education announced on 7 May that final exam of the 11th grade is planned in June and all exams will be organised in line with the health and hygiene regulations – a maximum 15 persons per exam hall and one person per desk. The State kindergartens are not planned to open in the summer months. • Measures on social protection of the population in connection with the pandemic covered more than 4.8 million citizens through through the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, which exceeds 48 per cent of the country's population, according to the Minister.

UNICEF PROGRAMME RESPONSE

RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (RCCE)

• During the reporting period, UNICEF Azerbaijan continued its joint campaign for young people with the Youth Foundation on social media, focusing on staying healthy while at home, with a series of posts on yoga, simple physical exercises and, art. “Stay home, stay healthy!” materials can be accessed here. The total reach of the assets was 353,000 people with views of 119,000. • At the same time, a series of new assets was developed within the risk communication campaign supported by USAID: Exercise video at the enchanted forest for kids; Hand-washing song for kids; Myth-busters. The overall reach as of 14 May was 140,473. • A second round (154,550 copies) of COVID-19 risk communication materials was produced, with volunteers started distributing 6,000 copies distribute) to the general public, vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons, people aged over 60 years, and hard to reach communities, answering questions about the materials and receiving feedback from the communities. 70 posters and 4,780 leaflets and brochures were distributed by 50 young volunteers among 1,790 families in Narimanov and Azizbekov districts of Baku, Ganja, Goranboy and settlements for internally displaced persons from Kalbajar District, in partnership with the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society. • UNICEF’s partner Regional Development Public Union (RiiB) started its second online training session, with 5,787 people engaged including 627 volunteers mobilized for awareness-raising activities intended to reach the public and vulnerable groups.

ENGAGING ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

• 14,744 young people were reached online with COVID-19 risk communication messages through UNICEF partners, including cross- country networks of Youth Houses and Youth Development and Career Centres, the National Assembly of Youth Organisations (NAYORA), Junior Achievement Azerbaijan Public Union (JAA), the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) – 9,668 through Facebook and 5,076 through Instagram. • In parallel, a set of 10 video assets was produced by the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation with the support of UNICEF. • UNICEF continued developing a series of interactive webinars on Basic Life Skills (BLS Remote) based on its face-to-face regular 16-lesson programme for the cross-country network of Youth Houses. The BLS Remote programme focuses on how to stay in good mental health. The adapted online version consists of six interactive webinars focusing on selected topics addressing

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adolescents’ mental health during periods of isolation, uncertainty, stress and instability. Sessions are developed and tested on a weekly basis by a joint team of international/local consultants, facilitator, a videographer and young people themselves. Session 2 on Emotional Regulation conducted on 7 May reached out to 1,599 people through social media live streams and online meeting platforms, with 800 participants being students of Vocational Education and Training schools from across the country. Active youth participation was ensured through a smartphone-based poll as well as exchange of text messages through online meeting platforms and social media. Under the initiative of the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, the same session was also successfully repeated in Russian language on 9 May for a joint group of adolescents and youth from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. • The National Paralympic Committee supported weekly online training sessions on 6 and 13 May by 20 coaches delivering online workouts to 140 children and adolescents with disabilities from the Children’s Paralympic movement • In the framework of the joint UNICEF-European Union project supporting community-based services, 24 members of Youth Advisory Councils from Gazakh, Shamkir, Tovuz, Bilasuvar and Khazar (Baku) districts coordinated by NAYORA promoted the #stayhome campaign in their communities. Education Hub, another partner from the project, organized a webinar on “How young people can develop themselves during COVID 19 pandemic” on 2 May (3,439 people reached, 242 engaged) and on “Emotional intelligence competencies for project management”, a live talk with international coach on 8 May (2,637 reached, 204 engaged). • Youth activation through online challenges on reading was supported by the Mingechevir Youth House mentor Lala Safarli and Shamkir Youth Development and Career Center mentor Konul Rahimova, who promoted reading during COVID-19 quarantine period and the Khazar Youth House Art for Development project participant Senan Safarli who shared his painting with other participants and encouraged them to spend their time effectively. • UNICEF partner the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society began an active stage of community support through addressing concerns and questions of 1,150 young people through a hotline service and activities of young volunteers. 300 volunteers received online training on positive behaviours and how to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection during distribution of risk communication materials.

PROVISION OF HEALTHCARE AND NUTRITION SERVICES

• A live session on social media with a neonatologist was held on 2 May. The live session provided counselling for parents and caregivers of young children on child health, breastfeeding, necessary hygiene measures while breastfeeding and vaccination. With its partner Regional Development Public Union (RiiB), UNICEF supported the engagement of specialists and provision of key UNICEF/WHO recommendations. 130 people attended the live session. • On May 8, another live session was held on social media with three local experts on child health to provide parents and caregivers of young children with necessary advice/counselling on child health, infant and maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and vaccination of children during the COVID-19 outbreak. UNICEF engaged experts and supported organization of the live session. In addition, UNICEF provided key messages and recommendations on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), vaccination, hygiene of breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women, in collaboration with Public Health and Reforms Centre of Ministry of Health. 3,100 views were reported. • Posts on social media pages on “Why COVID-19 is dangerous for children?”, “COVID-19 symptoms and clinical picture for children”, “Child’s home environment”, “Care for newborns”, “Proper use of diapers”, “Tips for parents of 2-months old children”, “Causes of fear in children”, “How to prevent child fears” reached over 6,000 people between 29 April – 9 May. • Posts on social media and the website of Public Health and Reforms Center on infant nutrition (29,417), vaccination (27,746), child development (8,130), child safety at home (9,580), healthy nutrition during quarantine (22,476), pregnancy during COVID- 19 (13,249), stress and anxiety in children (8,721), tips for healthy nutrition during COVID-19 (24,589), and daily regimes for children during quarantine (6,426) reached over 150,000 people as of 12 May.

ACCESS TO CONTINUOUS LEARNING: EDUCATION

• Preschool education classes developed with the support of UNICEF started on April 23 on two national television channels targeting children below the age of 5 nationwide. The early education videos are also available at the Parenting Education Portal developed with UNICEF support. Over 55,000 children under 5 were reached during the period from 4-14 May by the distance preschool education classes on television. The parenting education portal and cell phone application for parents, ilk5il, have reached more than 2,500 parents over the reporting period with resources on early education and child development provided by UNICEF. Over 6,000 children of age 3-5, including 320 children from IDP communities, in 320 Community-based Early Learning Centres, continue to receive distance preschool education using messaging and teleconferencing platforms.

• A set of materials for children, teachers and parents have been shared with the Ministry of Education, addressing issues of mental health, psychological and emotional wellbeing of children to address pressures and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic as well

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as on digital safety to mitigate risks (cyberbullying, social media safety, inappropriate content) that children may face online.

ACCESS TO CHILD PROTECTION AND PREVENTING VIOLENCE: CHILD PROTECTION

• UNICEF initiated co-operation with “Reliable Future” Social Initiatives Public Union and the Mental Health Center of the Ministry of Health to strengthen the capacity of mental health and psychosocial social services in the education sector and provide more effective prevention and response to violence against children via a Child Helpline and rehabilitation services. UNICEF is providing technical guidance, coordination and monitoring of the services. Psychosocial services are aimed at mitigating longer-term social impact by protecting the most vulnerable from mental health crises during and after COVID-19. • 178 children were provided with psychosocial support (psychological counselling through telephone, messaging and VOIP platforms) in three pilot districts in the framework of the integrated social services project jointly implemented by UNICEF and Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population and funded by the European Union. • UNICEF continued social support to vulnerable families (families with formerly institutionalised children and children deprived of parental care) in the form of basic food items and hygiene materials. Risk communication materials (booklets and brochures) on prevention of infection from COVID-19 as well as advice on positive parenting were also included in the support package. Between 4-14 May, 295 families were provided with this support.

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH

• Three rounds of weekly high-frequency surveys (data analyzed on 4 May) through telephone interviews with 250 respondents have helped gain further insights to public understanding and response to COVID-19. Results have been shared with key government counterparts and UN/international partners, including USAID, to support refinement of messaging and strategic response planning. Risk communication: o Perception of danger of the COVID-19 has decreased compared to previous weeks as more respondents reported COVID-19 is less dangerous and it is unlikely that they will contract the virus. o Choice of ‘going to health facility in case of having COVID-19 symptoms’ has increased along with ‘calling for a doctor/ambulance’ since week 2. o The top 4 communication channels used to receive information on COVID-19 remained unchanged: Television, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Economic impacts: o Percentage of respondents who had to borrow money to buy food (30 per cent) remained similar with the previous weeks. o Percentage of respondents who cannot afford lending 50 Manats to relatives who are in need (26 per cent) remained similar to the previous weeks. o The needs of the households for the cash assistance (30 per cent) has decreased compared to previous weeks. Health impacts: o Percentage of households reporting health issues in one or more members of the household (22 per cent) remained similar to week 2. o Percentage of households reporting access to local hospital (38 per cent) and polyclinics (42 per cent) remained similar to previous week. o Percentage of respondents hearing people getting sick in their community ( 8 per cent) slightly increased compared to week 2 Nutrition impacts: o Percentage of the households mostly consuming the food groups ‘bread, pasta and flour products’ (90 per cent) continued increasing since week 1. o Consumption of meat-based food among households (39 per cent) decreased since week 2. o Percentage of household having three meals per day continued decreasing since week 1. (W1 74 per cent, W2 62 per cent and W3 52 per cent). Mental health impacts: o Percentage of respondents feeling happy (64 per cent) remained similar to previous week. o Percentage of respondents reporting that the quality of life got worse (32 per cent) decreased since week 2. o Percentage of respondents feeling down and depressed due to COVID-19 related news and development (22 per cent) has decreased since week 2. Education impacts: o Percentage of pre-school aged children involved in home-based education (34 per cent) increased compared to week 2. o Percentage of school-aged children receiving home-based education (64 per cent) remained similar to week 2. o Use of messaging platforms for home-based education among pre-school and school-aged children has further increased (71 per cent and 62 per cent respectively) compared to previous weeks. o 97 per cent of school-aged children who receive home-based education got support with assignments from teachers remained similar to previous weeks. Child protection impacts: o Percentage of reported violence/theft in their family or community last week (2 per cent) has not changed compared to previous weeks. o Percentage of parents used physical punishment against children (2 per cent) has not changed since week 2.

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o Percentage of parents that did not spend time with their children (49 per cent) remained similar to week 2.

• All preparatory work for the real-time monitoring of social media and social listening was completed during the reporting period, including discussions with a research company to agree on the topics and subtopics for monitoring, identifying related keywords in all possible variations and potential influencers to be tracked.

SUPPLY

14,900 face masks (high-fil, FFP2/N95, no valve, nonsterile masks) were distributed to NGO partners and their volunteers (ASAN Volunteers, Youth Foundation, Education Institute) during the reporting period to support community outreach to districts and local communities.

PARTNERSHIPS AND COORDINATION

UN AND INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION The UN Country Team established a technical working group to develop a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of COVID-19, with UNICEF taking on the lead agency role for assessment of the social sectors. In initial discussions it was agreed to support a quick immediate impact assessment, allowing more time to develop in-depth policy and programming recommendations. These findings will also inform a revision to the draft UN Sustainable Development Coordination Framework for 2021-2025. UNICEF and the Office of the Resident Coordinator have initiated an appeal to international Embassies and Missions, and the national and international private sector, to support the provision of 1,000 netbooks to assist low income and vulnerable families with engaging children in online education opportunities.

COORDINATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT The UN Resident Coordinator facilitated a briefing for the international community with the Minister for Labour and Social Protection of the Population.

UNICEF continued to provide strategic inputs to the Government risk communication team, focusing on adapting and revising pubic messaging in light of increasing cases and concerns over a weakening of public concerns and related safe behaviours in relation to COVID-19. A series of recommendations on enhanced messaging and possible communication channels were provided to government partners.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MEDIA http://www.azerbaijan-news.az/view-188817/koronavirus-pandemiyasi-ile-mubarizede-konullulerin-emeyi-de-diqqetcekendir http://interfax.az/view/801703 https://youthfoundation.az/94664/ https://azertag.az/xeber/Gencler_Fondunun_Musahide_Surasinin_onlayn_iclasi_kechirilib-1481825 https://oxu.az/society/387182 http://editor.az/?p=115459 https://azxeber.com/az/gencler-fondunun-musahide-surasinin-onlayn-iclasi-kecirilib/genclik/ https://www.xeberoxu.az/Gencler-Fondunun-Musahide-%C5%9Eurasinin-onlayn-iclasi-kecirilib/20200508032843788 https://ssl.azxeber.com/az/gencler-fondunun-musahide-surasinin-onlayn-iclasi-kecirilib/genclik/ https://salamnews.org/az/news/read/383345 https://az.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/3235971.html https://apa.az/az/daxili_siyaset/Soltan-Mmmdov-Dovlt-bascisinin-yeni-secilmis-deputatlardan-gozlntilri-boyukdur-calismaliyiq- ki-bu-gozlntilri-dogruldaq-colorredMUSAHIBcolor-585888 https://aqreqator.az/ru/siyaset/753711 https://mektebgushesi.az/2020/05/10/pes%C9%99-t%C9%99hsili-alan-t%C9%99l%C9%99b%C9%99l%C9%99r-emosiyalarinizi- nec%C9%99-t%C9%99nziml%C9%99y%C9%99-bil%C9%99rsiniz-movzusunda-vebinara-qatilib/ https://azertag.az/xeber/Pese_tehsili_alan_telebeler_Emosiyalarinizi_nece_tenzimleye_bilersiniz_movzusunda_vebinara_qatilib -1484167 https://azedu.az/az/news/29127-pese-tehsili-alan-telebeler-emosiyalarinizi-nece-tenzimleye-bilersiniz-movzusunda-vebinara- qatilib

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NEXT SIT REP: 28 MAY 2020

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Edward Carwardine Min Yuan Jieun Yeom Representative Deputy Representative M&E Officer Tel: + 994(0)50 250 6102 Tel: +994 (0)50 462 3143 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

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