People are back to work in nearly all sectors of the economy in Marneuli. For 56 days, the municipality was in lockdown due to an outbreak of Covid-19. Residents of the municipality could not travel outside their communities during the period. Elmira, 50, a resident of Dashtapa (population 1,092), recalled the quarantine as a big challenge – they could not go out on the street, couldn’t visit each other, even though there was no virus in the village. Elmira, an ethnic Armenian, said her ethnic Azerbaijani neighbors were always willing to help when she needed something.
Mamuka, 17 is from Mareti, a settlement in Shulaveri (population 1,551). He and his entire family were diagnosed with Covid-19. They were taken to a hospital in Tbilisi, where they spent 15 days and then spent two weeks in self-isolation at home. Mamuka said he never felt any animosity from his neighbors. Today he has recovered and has just finished his exams for university. He wants to study history or business administration in Tbilisi.
Makho, 24, is an ethnic Georgian from Tbilisi who has been staying with his grandmother in Mareti. He works as an actor in Tbilisi - the premiers of his latest films had to be postponed due to the pandemic. But he said life continued in the village despite the lockdown. For example, his neighbors continued working in the fields.
Misir, 58, lives in Shulaveri. His wife and son live in Russia. He notes that despite the closed borders, there is still a chance for him to find work in the area. “Currently I paint houses and do construction and renovations in my neighborhood. It is easy for me to find work here. I am satisfied with my life.”
Ilham, 42, has served on the Marneuli municipal council since 2017. “We haven’t had any new cases for two months… Tourism will come back to Georgia next year and then we will be considered a green zone. We were a red zone, now we will be a green one.”
While some locals still doubt the virus exists, others say they are grateful for the steps the government took to contain the spread of Covid-19. “We should get used to living with this virus, they say it is not going anywhere. And it is good that they’ve closed the borders, because if they had not done that, no one would be left alive,” noted Elmira. She added that basic hygiene is a problem in her village: there were times during the lockdown that they did not have running water. “We often don’t have water here, so how do you imagine we could wash our hands 30 times a day?”
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