COVID-19 pandemic in Albania

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Albania on 8 March 2020, a father and son who had travelled from Florence, Italy.^[2]

COVID-19 pandemic in Albania
Total cases of COVID-19 in Albania (per 100K inhabitants) Cases per 100K inhabitants (last 14 days)
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Albania
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Index case	Tirana
Arrival date	8 March 2020 (5 years, 5 months, 1 week and 6 days)
Confirmed cases	337,198[1]
Deaths	3,608[1]
Fatality rate	1.07%
Vaccinations	1,349,255[1] (total vaccinated) 1,279,333[1] (fully vaccinated) 3,088,966[1] (doses administered)
Government website
coronavirus.al shendetesia.gov.al

As of 10 September 2020, there are 10,860 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Albania.^[3]

Cases

After the first case was reported on 8 March, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection stated that a total of 65 people had been tested for COVID-19, 2 of whom were positive the following day.^[4]

On 10 March, President Ilir Meta called for retired Albanian doctors to re-enter the work force.^[5] Later that day, it was discovered that a Maryland woman had contracted novel coronavirus after visiting Albania, as well as spending time in a Turkish airport.^[6]

The first death was also reported, an elderly woman in Durrës on 12 March.^[7]

Response

On 12 March, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared a "war" on COVID-19.^[8]