Paata Imnadze: Certain restrictions will be lifted, the country will open up, but it will probably take about a year to go back to normal lifestyle

According to Paata Imnadze, Deputy Director of the National Center for Disease Control, it will probably take about a year to go back to normal lifestyle.

He said restrictions would be lifted, but citizens would have to refrain from certain customs and traditions, such as family or social gatherings, for some time.

“Living with COVID-19 means that we will have to refrain from many of our habits for a long time. For example, we will have to say no to family and social gatherings for a long time. We will have to give up all this if we want to avoid the escalation of the situation. The country needs to be opened, we can't live like this all the time. The country, of course, will open up and start working slowly. Certain restrictions will be lifted, but others will remain in force and I hope the epidemiological situation will allow us to lift as many restrictions as possible. It will all depend on how we will learn to live with COVID-19.

As for the return to the usual way of life, we will probably need at least 1 year to overcome everything. A lot is being written, but no one really knows this virus," Paata Imnadze said.

According to him, they hope that a drug for this disease will be ready by summer.

"Of course, we are all waiting for the vaccine. However, we hope that the antiviral drug for this virus will be ready much earlier. We have high hopes that this may happen in the summer," Paata Imnadze said on Rustavi 2 TV.