All necessary measures are being taken to stop the spread of COVID-2019 in Belarus, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said during Friday’s visit to Belgips Company.
According to him, every service and agency in the country – from doctors to law enforcers – are contributing to combating the novel coronavirus: they are detecting contact persons, are doing prevention work, etc. However, Lukashenka again blasted those ‘sowing psychosis and panic’ over the problem.
“We are tackling the issue, but there should not be much ado!” he said.
The Belarusian leader also focused on the pandemic’s affecting the global economy. In his opinion, the situation has its impact on Belarus as well. He referred to a recent statement by U.S. President Donald Trump who said the effects on the economy and people’s lives might be more severe than those of the virus.
“Now you have understood why I did not authorise closures of businesses. Although there were many people urging me to close borders, enterprises and begin a nationwide quarantine. Back then I made a principled decision: we will implement a quarantine only when it is really needed,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The head of state also said that Victory Day celebrations and events would not be cancelled on the back of the pandemic. Moreover, he is going to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow.
As of March 27, the number of coronavirus infection cases has totalled to 94 in Belarus, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
As reported earlier, the 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 March 16, Alyaksandr Lukashenka 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’.