BAKU, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani healthcare workers fighting the new COVID-19 strain were paid bonuses worth nearly two million manat ($1.17 million) in the period of May through December 2022, the State Agency for Compulsory Health Insurance told Trend.

The amount of urgent bonuses has been set as follows:

The Agency continues paying urgent bonuses for December, 2022 in accordance with the lists sent by public health facilities.

According to the Decree of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers No. 19 of January 24, 2023, the deadline to provide urgent bonuses for healthcare workers fighting the new COVID-19 strain has been extended until March 1, 2023.

The first COVID-19 case in Azerbaijan was reported on Feb. 28, 2020. The coronavirus outbreak reportedly started in the Chinese Wuhan – which is an international transport hub – at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

For almost three years now, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world. Despite a relative decrease in new infections and deaths worldwide, international experts believe that the pandemic is still a global issue. The main reason is that the virus is constantly mutating and changing, which means it differs from previous variants.

Source: TREND News Agency