During Tuesday’s visit to the Academy of Sciences, Alyaksandr Lukashenka praised the Belarusians for trying to reduce social contacts in the time of the pandemic, the presidential press service reports.
“Our people are doing well! They go where they need – to shops, pharmacies, places of work and study. They come [home], rest, breathe fresh air, and go to bed. Our senior citizens are just fine fellows! And we never forced anyone, we just told them what it [careless attitude] could result in. So here is our style, our coronavirus control system,” he said.
According to Lukashenka, the forecast previously given by Belarusian specialists is becoming a reality ‘with amazing accuracy’.
“I hope to God we will go through this period the way that follows from the forecast. We [i.e. coronavirus cases in the country] surged and then slightly dropped. If it is God’s will, we will face the end of this coronavirus story in a month,” he stressed.
He could not name a thing they ‘were wrong about’ during the coronavirus crisis, the head of state added.
It should be recalled, however, that on March 31 Lukashenka stated: “We are now at the peak of the coronavirus diseases”. But since early April, the number of COVID-19 patients has grown from 351 to 18,350, i.e. more than 52 times.
Meanwhile, Iryna Hlinskaya, deputy chief physician of Belarus’ National Centre for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health, expects a ‘steady declining trend in the COVID-19 spread’ in a month in Belarus, state-run news agency BelTA reported on Wednesday.
“I believe that somewhere in a month, by the end of this month, we will reach a steady decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases. Then, we will be able to talk about further forecasts,” the health professional said.
As of May 6, the Belarusian Health Ministry has registered the total of 19,255 persons infected with the novel coronavirus in the country; 112 patients have died.
