The spring school holidays have been extended for a week in the country. Apparently, the reason for such a step is a threat of further COVID-19 spread, but Belarusian officials do not want to make much of it.
As of today, the number of the infected with COVID-19 has totalled to 700 in Belarus, 13 people have died. 62% of Belarusians expect that the corona crisis may worsen in the near future, SATIO, a company specialising in marketing research, said in early April. According to the pollster, many people fear a collapse of the domestic healthcare system.
Last week, Education Minister Ihar Karpenka informed Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka about the current state of affairs, including the opinions and requests of parents.
The spring holidays will last until and including 11 April. The schooling will resume on 13 April and end on 30 May 2020, news agency BelTA reports with reference to the Education Ministry.
As reported earlier, the Belarusian Council of Ministers is taking measures to prevent and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Belarus. In particular, the government bound the arrivals from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days. At the same time, the Health Ministry is still refraining from recommendations to impose quarantine measures on educational institutions due to ‘inexpedience’.
On April 3, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that the introduction of tough quarantine measures and placing a curfew would not improve the coronavirus situation in Belarus.
Over the past month, the Belarusian leader has gained notoriety for his careless attitude to the pandemic of COVID-19.
On March 16, he shared with the newly appointed officials his own ways of fighting infections, including the novel coronavirus. He advised going to a dry sauna, claiming that the virus dies at 60 degrees; more frequent handwashing, regular diet, and… drinking some vodka are also on his list. Later, he called the situation ‘psychosis and foolishness’.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka also promised that despite the coronavirus, no festivities on the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War would be canceled. What is more, introducing quarantine measures is not even considered at the official level. There are sports competitions with fans in the stands. The head of Belarus plays sports and shares antivirus observations.
ІІ belsat.eu
