COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus
| COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus | |
|---|---|
 Confirmed cases by region (as of 20 April 2020):
>2000
1000–1999
500–999
200–499
1–199 | |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Belarus |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, China |
| Index case | Minsk |
| Arrival date | 28 February 2020 (1 year, 2 months and 6 days ago) |
| Confirmed cases | 362,594 |
| Recovered | 353,081 |
Deaths | 2,582 |
| Fatality rate | 0.71% |
The COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belarus, when the first case of COVID-19 in the country was registered in Minsk on 28 February 2020.[1]
Background[edit]
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[2][3]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[4][5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant death toll.[6][4]
Timeline[edit]
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May 2021[edit]
| May 2021 |
|---|
| On 1 May, a total of 359,982 confirmed cases were reported, including 350,433 recoveries and 2,552 deaths. More than 5,868,000 COVID-19 tests had been conducted in Belarus to date.[7]
On 2 May, a total of 361,063 confirmed cases were reported, including 351,816 recoveries and 2,562 deaths. More than 5,887,000 COVID-19 tests had been conducted in Belarus to date.[8] On 3 May, a total of 361,897 confirmed cases were reported, including 352,464 recoveries and 2,572 deaths. More than 5,895,000 COVID-19 tests had been conducted in Belarus to date.[9] On 4 May, a total of 362,594 confirmed cases were reported, including 353,081 recoveries and 2,582 deaths. More than 5,902,000 COVID-19 tests had been conducted in Belarus to date.[10] |
Government response[edit]
2020[edit]
On 16 March, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, dismissed the threat of coronavirus and encouraged working in fields and driving tractors as a way of overcoming the pandemic: "You just have to work, especially now, in a village [...] there, the tractor will heal everyone. The fields heal everyone."[11] In his further comments on the pandemic, the Belarusian leader referred to it as "psychosis", and on 28 March he played a game of hockey, later stating in an interview "it is better to die on our feet, than live on your knees [...] sport, especially on ice, is better than any antiviral medication, it is the real thing".[12][13] Prior to that, in an official meeting, Lukashenko proposed "poisoning" the coronavirus with vodka, as well as attending banyas as the best cures for the disease.[14]
On 25 March, a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine requirement was instituted for persons entering Belarus from countries affected by the pandemic, with the exception of diplomats and their families, air crews and persons transiting Belarus on return to their home countries.[15]
As of 30 March, Belarus had not initiated a nation-wide quarantine effort.[16] That, as well as the gradual decrease in transparency of the official reports on the pandemic, led to criticism from the press and population, emphasizing the absence of up-to-date information about the territories affected by the virus, decreased update frequency and increased ambiguity of the official reports, as well as restraint of the non-governmental media from the government sessions on the epidemiological situation in the country.[17]
On 4 April, the Ministry of Education of Belarus announced a one-week extension of spring vacation for schools.[18] On 10 April another one-week extension followed.[19]
On 9 April, a mandatory 14-day self-isolation requirement was issued by the government for foreign and Belarusian citizens with either confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, or the status of first- or second-level contact. The penalties for breaking the requirement include administrative detention, fine and imprisonment.[20]
In an interview given to Tut.By on 10 April, Vladimir Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, stated he "felt shame" having to wear a face mask when "walking to a store" and expressed skepticism about nation-wide quarantine as a rational approach to fighting the pandemic: "I don't think the implementation of 'total' quarantine would have spared us from growth of this curve, which we would see anyway." When asked about the help Belarus received from other countries, Makei noted the Chinese humanitarian aid (COVID-19 tests and medical equipment) and criticized Russia, mentioning unreliable COVID-19 tests and 15 infected workers sent to the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets from Nizhny Tagil. According to Makei, approximately 4,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Belarus daily.[21]
In a Ministry of Health briefing given on 10 April it was clarified that Belarus did not plan any postponement of conscription. According to Elena Bogdan, the Deputy Minister of Health, 8-10% of COVID-19 tests give positive results, and more than 65,000 COVID-19 tests are currently available in Belarus. It was also reported that 10 out of 169 recovered COVID-19 patients had agreed to become the donors of isoimmune blood plasma: "This is a new scientific direction for the RSPC of Transfusiology and Medical Biotechnologies. We will be developing a new method of treating the most severe cases of coronavirus infection with isoimmune plasma of the recovered patients".[22]
According to the Deputy Minister of Defense of Belarus, Sergei Potapenko, as of 11 April, preparations for the 9 May Victory Day Parade were continuing as planned: "As of now, everything is normal, a complex of antiepidemiologic and therapeutic measures is taking place, which assures the health of soldiers is on due level. So far, we have no problems with preparing for the parade".[23]
According to Alexander Lukashenko remarks from the 13 April official meeting, no people had died from COVID-19 per se in Belarus to date: "People are afraid. Thus, I want to tell them the following: not a single person had died from coronavirus in our country. Not a single one! They died from a bouquet of chronic diseases, which they had. [...] Coronavirus is not even a push, it is the atmosphere in which their chronic diseases develop." In his further remarks, Lukashenko addressed the currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients: "There's no reason for them to worry. No one will die from coronavirus in our country. I am stating this publicly".[24]
On 21 April, during his visit to the "Slavyanka" clothing factory re-purposed for the production of medical masks, Alexander Lukashenko criticized the protective measures taken in schools: "Utter nonsense. Children can not wear these masks, especially in schools. There was no such requirement. If there are those who required it, they will answer for it. It's better to open the window and let fresh air in." According to Lukashenko, wearing a mask, using ethanol-based antiseptics and keeping social distance in schools was a "fraud" (Russian: очковтирательство).[25] Later that day Natalia Ejsmont, the Belarusian president's press-secretary, reported one of the members of the presidential hockey team had been diagnosed with COVID-19. According to Ejsmont, no self-isolation or remote working were planned for the president.[26]
On 25 April, a nation-wide Subbotnik (day of community service) took place in Belarus, reportedly involving as many as 2.3 million people.[27]
According to Alexander Lukashenko remarks from the 3 May official meeting, cancellation of the 9 May Victory Day Parade was impossible: "I have to say, we can not cancel the parade. Just can not. I've thought about it for a long time. This, of course, is an emotional, deeply ideological thing. We must understand, those people died, perhaps, from viruses and other diseases. But they didn't feel it sometimes and didn't think about it. And they died for us, as pathetic as it may sound. Think about what people would say, perhaps, after a day or two, [...] that we were afraid". According to Lukashenko, however, there was no need to force people to participate: "If people don't want it, are afraid and care about their health, we will understand that. We have enough volunteers today - thousands and thousands of people want this event to happen". In his further commentary, Alexander Lukashenko expressed scepticism towards the potential epidemiological danger of the parade and invited Russian officials to take part in it, emphasizing the openness of Belarus to its Russian "friends and brothers". Lukashenko also noted that, despite the absence of nation-wide restrictions, Belarusians had shown care for their health during the past May holidays: "[People] kind of spread-out. There were no gatherings".[28]
According to the 6 May Onliner.by publication, in preparation for the 9 May Victory Day Parade the Belarusian government initiated a recruiting campaign among university students (who were encouraged to participate in the parade in return for the academic and dormitory bonuses), members of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences and recovered COVID-19 patients.[29]
On 9 May, despite the WHO social distancing recommendations, the annual Victory Day military parade took place in Minsk, reportedly involving more than 15,000 spectators and 4,000 military personnel. The ambassadors of 18 countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, Venezuela, Vietnam, Iran, North Korea, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Palestine, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Tajikistan, the UAE and Serbia) attended, as well as the chargés d'affaires of Sudan, Libya and Pakistan, and the Permanent Representative of Russia to the CIS, Andrei Grozov. During his speech as the commander-in-chief, Alexander Lukashenko emphasized the importance of the Victory Day to Belarusians and addressed the critics of the parade: "In this mad disoriented world, there are people who are blaming us for the circumstances we are hosting this sacred event in. [...] Do not jump to conclusions and blame us, the heirs of the Victory, Belarusians. [...] We simply couldn't do it differently, we had no other choice. And even if we had one, we would have done everything the same. The eyes of the dead soldiers look at us, the eyes of the tortured partisans and underground fighters [...] They wanted to live but died for us".[30][31][32][33][34]
According to Alexander Lukashenko remarks from the 21 May official meeting, COVID-19 incidence in Belarus had reached plateau and was beginning to decline in Minsk and Vitebsk: "[In Vitebsk] we are on plateau now and we see that it is declining. Minsk, Vitebsk – especially Vitebsk – had faced this problem much earlier and are now beginning to recover. [...] Happily, we do not see any growth in Minsk now. This is good". It was further noted by Lukashenko that the death statistics remained the most important success indicator of a country's response to the pandemic: "In the end, there is only one indicator - death toll. And the fact that by this metric we are the best in the world is challenged by no one. No one!".[35]
On 11 June, the 14-day self-quarantine requirement issued on 9 April was lifted from persons entering Belarus from 37 countries.[36] Since 11 June, all foreign citizens entering Belarus must provide a PCR-based COVID-19 test certificate acquired no longer than 2 days prior to entering the country.[37] On 25 June, persons entering Belarus from 14 more countries[38] became exempt from the self-quarantine requirement.[39] On 9 July, the list was extended by 12[40] countries.[41] On 15 July, Russia was excluded from the list.[42] On 4 August, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Tanzania and Sri Lanka were excluded from the list.[43] On 10 September, Uzbekistan was excluded from the list, and the exclusions of Spain, Montenegro, Israel, Andorra and Malta were reverted due to increasing numbers of new infections.[44]
On 17 June, by a governmental decree, COVID-19 was included in the list of diseases giving patients a right to free medication and medical food.[45]
According to the 16 July remarks by the Belarusian culture minister, Yuri Bondar, despite organizational problems, no programme shortening was planned for the 2020 Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. According to Bondar, it was about time Belarusians "woke up from the pandemic hibernation" and "forgot about the spring situation". It was further noted by Bondar that "normal people do not wear masks" and that a facial mask is a "microbial hotbed".[46]
On 22 July, the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Lidia Yermoshina, announced an epidemiologically motivated limitation on the number of observers on the upcoming presidential elections: "I understand it will be an unpopular decision, but I suggest a reduction of the amount of observers for the duration of this electoral campaign: up to five people on the election day, [...] and up to three during early voting".[47]
On 28 July, during an official meeting with military personnel, Alexander Lukashenko stated he had recovered from asymptomatic COVID-19 infection: "Such was the medical conclusion. [...] As I said, 97% of our population experience it in asymptomatic form. Thank God I was lucky to be in the cohort of asymptomatic".[48] In a 5 August interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon, Lukashenko stated the circumstances of his infection were investigated, and that he was leaning towards the version of deliberate contagion.[49]
On 7 August, in a meeting with medical workers and the Belarusian minister of health, Vladimir Karanik, Alexander Lukashenko expressed his willingness to become a donor of blood for the Belarusian opposition politicians: "Since I have recovered from that [COVID-19], you know what I have thought about? [...] I will be donating my blood, and you will take that plasma and inject all the oppositionists with it. This is the easiest way of turning them towards the state and towards me. Thus, I am stating this publicly: all the oppositioners should get a drop of [that] blood. They will not refuse it once they are in the intensive care unit, you know this". It was further noted by Lukashenko that the remark was a "semi-joke, semi-truth".[50]
On 28 September, it was reported that the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine was delivered to Belarus for clinical trials beginning on 1 October. According to the Belarusian Ministry of Health, the trials were to be double blind and to be performed on 100 volunteers with the employment of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology.[51]
On 7 October, a new set of classification criteria for first- and second-level contact status was released by the Belarusian Ministry of Health, defining the first-level contacts as individuals who had a close contact (i.e. 15 minutes at a less than 1 meter distance without the means of individual protection) with a diagnosed COVID-19 patient 4 days prior and 10 days after either the emergence of symptoms in the latter, or a laboratory diagnosis confirmation in case of an asymptomatic infection course. Under the same set of rules, the status of second-level contact was restricted to children under 10 years.[52]
On 8 October, a 4-day reduction in the duration of the mandatory 14-day self-isolation requirement issued on 9 April was announced by the Ministry of Health. According to Dmitry Pinevich, the Acting Minister of Health, the reduction was based on experience of Belarusian medics showing that usually the virus "reveals itself" no longer than 7 days after contagion.[53]
On 1 November, Belarusian borders were closed for foreign citizens, with the exception of diplomats, persons entering Belarus through the Minsk National Airport, Russian citizens transiting Belarus on their way to Russia and a number of other categories of people related to transportation of goods, mail, organ transplants, functioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.[54]
On 5 November, Mogilev became the first city in Belarus to introduce compulsory use of facial masks in public places.[55]
On 9 November, compulsory use of facial masks was introduced in Gomel Region.[56]
According to the 11 November Ministry of Health decree, PCR-based tests were no longer conducted for first-level contacts with an asymptomatic infection course.[57]
On 12 November, compulsory use of facial masks was introduced in Minsk. As of date, besides Minsk, Gomel Region and Mogilev, such measure was reported to had been employed in Babruisk, Asipovichy, Klichev, Krichev, Chavusy District, Cherykaw District, Polotsk District and Novopolotsk.[58]
On 16 November, compulsory use of facial masks was introduced in Vitebsk Region.[59]
On 18 November, compulsory use of facial masks was introduced in Brest Region.[60]
On 7 December, an epidemiologically motivated partial closure of Belarusian borders was announced in the governmental decree No.705, according to which, since 21 December, Belarusian citizens and residents of Belarus were to be temporarily prohibited from leaving Belarus via land, except for a limited number of cases. Duration of the prohibition was not specified in the document.[61]
On 21 December, the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine was officially registered in Belarus, with the first batch expected to be delivered to Belarus from Russia within a month. Reportedly, medical workers, teachers and retail workers were to be the first social groups to receive the vaccine free of charge.[62]
On 29 December, the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine was delivered to Belarus, and beginning of mass vaccination was officially announced by the Ministry of Health.[63]
2021[edit]
On 26 February, the first test batch of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine was locally produced by the Belmedpreparaty Belarusian pharmaceutical company via technology provided by Russia.[64]
On 11 March, it was reported by the Ministry of Health that the first cases of the more transmissible British SARS-CoV-2 variant were registered in Belarus.[65]
Suspected statistics falsification[edit]
According to Stepan Putilo, an independent Belarusian journalist and owner of the NEXTA Telegram channel, the government had falsified the official data on the COVID-19 pandemic progression in Belarus and published significantly lowered numbers. On 11 May 2020, with reference to "documents from the Presidential Administration of Belarus", NEXTA concluded that a daily gain of more than a thousand COVID-19 cases had been reached "a couple of days ago", while the number of total COVID-19 cases in Belarus was as high as 26,348, with 166 COVID-19 patients requiring assisted ventilation. According to NEXTA, the actual daily gain of COVID-19 cases in the 8–11 May period was as follows:[66]
8 May - +1251 9 May - +1271 10 May - +1183 11 May - +1242
On 13 May 2020, NEXTA reported a total of 27,717 COVID-19 cases and a daily gain of 1,369.[66][67]
According to the statistics presented during the 22 May 2020 webinar of the Belarusian Society of Anesthesiologists and Reanimatologists, in April, 2020, mortality rate among intensive therapy COVID-19 patients in Minsk alone accounted to 27%, or 117 patients in absolute numbers, contradictory to the 1 May official Ministry of Health report pointing to a total (i.e. in Belarus as a whole) of 93 deaths of COVID-19 patients. In a further official clarification by the Ministry of Health, it was noted that the death rate presented during the webinar reflected the data on all the patients of "pulmonological profile" and included both confirmed COVID-19 patients and patients with "other pneumonia etiologies", contradictory to the slides of the webinar presentation mentioning the COVID-19 patients exclusively. The recording of the webinar was subsequently removed from YouTube.[68][69]
According to intensive care unit personnel of the 1st Minsk Clinical Hospital, 3-4 deaths of likely coronavirus-positive patients were registered there on some days, while the official daily deaths statistics for these days did not exceed 5 deaths for Belarus as a whole.[70]
According to the 22 July 2020 remark by Lidia Yermoshina (with reference to the Ministry of Health data), as of date, around 41,000 people were either hospitalized or undergoing ambulatory COVID-19 treatment, or were in the status of first-level contact, contrary to the official statistics pointing to a total of 6,947 active cases. In a further clarification by the Ministry of Health, it was noted that the named number represented the number of people under "all types of medical observation", including active COVID-19 cases, first- and second-level contacts and the currently quarantined individuals. According to the Ministry of Health's own guidelines, however, the second-level contacts were exempt from the self-quarantine requirement and were not a subject to observation.[71]
Statistical analysis of the official Belarusian COVID-19 daily infection numbers suggested the presence of an artificial limit of 1,000 cases per day.[72]
According to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) data[73] on monthly deaths in Belarus, in April–June 2020, the total number of deaths exceeded the average figure for the last 5 years by about 5,500, while the average figure for the January–April period did not show a notable difference with the previous years. According to Nasha Niva, such statistical anomalies have never been observed since the beginning of the UNSD operation in 1980 and could point to the actual COVID-19 deaths statistics in Belarus.[74]
In a 7 September 2020 interview to Dozhd, Alexander Mrochek, cardiologist and academician of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, suggested that COVID-19 deaths in Belarus were presented as deaths from cardiovascular diseases in the official mortality statistics: "Cardiovascular diseases comprise 58% of the mortality statistics in Belarus, significantly exceeding such rates in the neighbouring countries. My suggestion, and I have certain facts supporting it, [...] is that the arteriosclerotic heart disease diagnosis [was written in a death certificate], with no regards to a patient dying from respiratory failure caused by the COVID-19 infection". According to Mrochek, Vladimir Karanik, the former minister of health, was personally responsible for the falsification.[75]
On 9 November 2020, in an interview to BelTA, it was noted by Igor Petrhishenko, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, that, according to preliminary data, 15-20% of the Belarusian population possessed herd immunity to COVID-19, contradictory to the official 9 November Ministry of Health report pointing to a total of 108,000 confirmed cases.[76]
According to the mortality statistics published by the Mogilev civil registry, in January–November, 2020, the total number of deaths for the given time period (4,375) exceeded the total number of deaths for whole previous year by 609, while the Mogilev mortality statistics for the previous 5 years lacked similar death spikes and stayed at a mark of approximately 3,800 people. The statistics also showed that in November, 2020, there were almost twice as many deaths in Mogilev than in November, 2019. The statistics was subsequently removed from the registry's website.[77][78]
Indirect calculations based on official National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus data (indicators “commodity turnover per capita” and “commodity turnover”) suggested that the average annual population in 2020 decreased by 47,8 thousand people. With a decrease in the average annual population in 2018 by 14,7 thousand people and in 2019 by 17,8 thousand people, the excess mortality in 2020 could be totalled circa 30 thousand people.[79]
On March 24, 2021, Alyaksei Znatkevich of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published an article based on a survey of several doctors, which provided evidence of falsification of statistics up to 7 times. For example, in 2020, 16,309 cases of COVID-19 were officially registered in Babruysk and Babruysk District. This is 6,998 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants. About 7% of the population of the district suffered from this disease, while the average domestic data of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus for the same period showed that only about 2% of the population of Belarus were infected with COVID-19. From February 28, 2020 to February 28, 2021, more than 360 people died in Babruysk and the district. If these figures are extrapolated to the entire country, the total death toll is going to be about 16,000, and as of February 28, 2021, the Ministry of Health reported that just 1,976 people had died from COVID-19. The interviewed doctor of the 1st hospital in Minsk also reported a strange ratio of deaths: "Only in our hospital, 3–5 people died from COVID-19 every day in covid-departments. At the same time, 7, 8 or 9 deaths from coronavirus were officially registered in the country at that time." Also, according to one of the doctors of Minsk polyclinics, physicians were limited in the number of tests: out of 30–40 patients whom the doctor examined during the day, usually a half had a suspicion of COVID-19, but a maximum of 10 could be sent for testing; out of 5–7 people whom the doctor sent daily, almost all of them had the disease confirmed. He added that at a time when it was being officially announced about 7–8 deaths per day across the country, his colleagues from Minsk hospitals informed him about 3–5 deaths in each. The Ministry of Health has not commented on the article.[80]
According to the Minsk civil registries and health care institutions statistics obtained by MediaZona, in 2020, excess mortality in Minsk alone comprised approximately 5,000 deaths, or 29% increase in comparison with the average for the previous 5 years, and the number of newly registered COVID-19 cases in Minsk in the 5 July-29 November period was reported in the internal documentation as more than 101,000, while the official statistics for the same period pointed to a total of 88,753 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the whole country. According to MediaZona, the civil registries deaths statistics showed that, in December 2020, on average, about 15 deaths from COVID-19 were registered in Minsk daily, and, on 17 December, there was a peak of 27 deaths, while only 9 deaths were officially reported on that day. The age distribution in deaths registered in Minsk showed that, in 2020, there was a 30,45% and 27,7% increase in deaths of people aged 60-69 and 70+, respectively, in comparison with the previous years.[81][82]
Censorship and repression[edit]
On 30 April 2020, the head physician of the Vitebsk Clinical Emergency Hospital, Sergey Lazar, was relieved of his position shortly after the publication of his interview with TUT.BY, where he criticized the counter-pandemic measures taken by the government and mentioned the shortage of medical protective equipment.[83][84] According to the press-secretary of the Ministry of Health, Yulia Borodun, Sergey Lazar's dismissal was not related to the publication.[84]
On 25 March 2020, Sergei Satsuk, the chief editor of the Yezhednevhik online newspaper, was arrested on a charge of bribe-taking, three days after the publication of his article with critique of the Belarusian government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[85]
On 11 May 2020, two Youth Bloc (Russian: Молодёжный Блок) activists were sentenced to 5 and 13 days of administrative detention for participation in the protest against hosting the annual 9 May Victory Day Parade amid the pandemic. On that same day, another Youth Bloc activist was detained inside the court building while awaiting the beginning of the trial on his associates.[86]
COVID-19 as a means of torture[edit]
During the 2020 Belarusian protests, cases of deliberate infection with COVID-19 and subsequent denial of medical help by the staff of Belarusian prisons were reported by released protesters.[87]
Economic impact[edit]
On 30 March 2020, Belarus and International Monetary Fund (IMF) started negotiations on a $900 million loan intended to compensate the economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic.[88] On 19 June 2020, Alexander Lukashenko stated the IMF was demanding imposition of lockdown measures as a condition for loans, but the demands were declined by Minsk.[89] On 10 September, Belarus was refused the loan due to "significant disagreements on the reacting measures to current difficulties".[90]
According to the National Bank of Belarus data, inflation in March accelerated and accounted to 4.9%, 0.85% higher than in February.[91]
In 2020, Belarus was the only country in Europe whose association football league continued playing as planned in late March amid the pandemic. In most countries around the world, sports were cancelled to mitigate the spread of the virus.[92][93] Economists James Reade, Dominik Schreyer, and Carl Singleton observe that stadium attendance demand in Belarus declined significantly in the initial period of maximum uncertainty. Surprisingly, stadium attendance demand then slowly recovered, despite the ongoing inherent risk to individuals from going to a match.[94]
On 10 April 2020, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) issued a $1.3 million financial aid for Belarus to help counter the coronavirus pandemic.[95]
On 25 April 2020, it was reported the agreement on a €90 million loan was reached between Belarus and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).[96] On 23 July, the agreement was approved by the presidential decree No.292.[97]
According to the 27 April 2020 remarks by Dmitry Krutoy, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, a total of $2–2.5 billion of external loans were planned to be used as support for the Belarusian economy: "Speaking of negotiations with IMF, our quota allows for approximately $900 million, the World Bank - approximately $300 million, the European Investment Bank - approximately $300 million, as well. That is, in total we will be able to attract $2-2.5 billion from our creditors. These will be very good numbers". According to Krutoy, healthcare system support and counter-unemployment measures were the main focus of the Belarusian government amid the pandemic crisis.[98]
WHO assessment and recommendations[edit]
On 11 April 2020, during a press-conference concluding a three-day WHO inspection, the leader of the WHO mission in Belarus, Patrick O'Connor, noted the "systematic approach", presence of the testing laboratories, patient segregation (as a means of stopping the spread of the infection in hospitals) and the quickly organized domestic production of the protective equipment for medics as positives of the Belarusian response to the pandemic. The WHO recommendations included physical distancing (cancelling of the sports and cultural events, implementation of remote education and minimization of the nonessential movements for the high-risk groups of people), improvements of the testing process and isolation of the first- and second-level contacts. According to O'Connor, Belarus was stepping in a new phase of the pandemic with the transmission of the disease occurring on the "community level".[99]
On 21 April 2020, a new set of recommendations for Belarus was published by the WHO, which included increase in social distancing, quarantining of the contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 patients, implementation of the remote education for schools and universities, reducing nonessential movements for the high-risk groups of people, repurposing of the private and public sector for the production of protective equipment for health-care workers, government commitment to implement the containing and mitigation measures, clear, transparent and regular communication of the risks, health advice and response measures by the government and continuation of the socioeconomic support for the vulnerable groups of people.[100]
On 28 April 2020, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Belarus, Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecki, emphasized the importance of complying with the WHO recommendations in her video address to the nation and characterized the current state of the pandemic in the country as "sustained and pervasive local transmission", reiterating the previous WHO assessment.[101] On that same day, in a WHO report, the current epidemiological situation in Belarus was labeled as "concerning" and requiring "the immediate implementation of a comprehensive blended strategy", involving a variety of physical distancing measures, as well as expansion of testing capacity, improvements in QA for the locally produced COVID-19 test kits and implementation of standardized screening procedures at international entry points.[102]
On 6 May 2020, the representative of the WHO in Belarus, Batyr Berdyklychev, expressed concern about Belarusian government's decision on hosting the 9 May Victory Day Parade amid the pandemic: "Our concern is about the impossibility of social distancing measures implementation during this event. [...] In relation to all events involving mass gatherings of people, we [WHO] have straightforward recommendations. If there is no urgent need, they should be postponed or cancelled".[103]
According to the 12 June 2020 Batyr Berdyklychev remarks from his interview with TuT.by, as of date, Belarus was still in the "local transmission" stage: "Belarus is still in the stage of local transmission of the virus, which is quite serious".[104]
Additional statistics[edit]
New cases per day[edit]
Recoveries per day[edit]
Deaths per day[edit]
Active cases[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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