Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Oct 24 (AFP/APP):Close quarters, poor ventilation and no masks: in the cellars of Stepanakert, the capital of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh province, residents who have not fled fierce fighting may be safe from shelling, but not coronavirus. Adjoining basements beneath one unassuming three-storey building in the city have been repurposed as a bomb shelter, where residents are seeking refuge from frequent bouts of shelling by Azerbaijan’s forces, including on Friday evening. The majority of Stepanakert’s 60,000 residents fled after fighting erupted late last month between separatists in the Armenian-majority mountainous region and the Azerbaijani army. The largest room in the basement — around 50 square metres with a ceiling lower than 2 metres (6.5 feet) — serves as the sleeping quarters. Around ten mattresses and blankets are placed on stone benches built against the walls and the earthen floor is carpeted with cardboard boxes. A few dim lamps hang from the ceiling over an ageing wood stove in the middle of the room, its chimney running to an outside wall. Lusine Tovmasyan used to run a medical testing centre in Stepanakert. But when fighting erupted four weeks ago, the 44-year-old began working for the health authorities, carrying out coronavirus … Continue reading Coronavirus thrives in Karabakh’s bomb shelters