Tbilisi may have refused to let the insult slide because Georgia’s coronavirus response has become an electoral platform for the governing party, which faces a parliamentary vote this fall.
Two weeks after the country largely ended its lockdown, the number of coronavirus cases has shot up and the government is preparing to use a repurposed sports hall to treat patients.
Armenian ruling party members have been involved in two physical altercations in recent days. They say they are just responding to verbal provocations.