Belarusians Doctor: Struggle With Coronavirus Reduced To Paperwork

Belarus is not ready for an epidemic.

A doctor at the Barysau Central District Hospital told the press-center of the European Belarus civil campaign about how healthcare institutions react to the news on the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19:

- Of course, you should not panic. You just need to keep in mind that any passer-by, any person nearby can be a carrier. Avoid crowded places, public places, bars.

- How transparent is the Belarusian health care? Is it possible to count on the reliability of information on the situation with the virus?

- Not transparent. Do not count. All struggle is reduced to paperwork by 90 percent. The rest is funny and scary.

Compared to what is being done and done in China, here it’s easy for us. If instead of contactless sanitizers at the station, we put on the table a bottle with an antiseptic that you have to touch and pour onto your hands - is this what you think is equivalent to the measures and means that the Chinese are applying or not? Therefore, it is scary. In terms of protecting our citizens, our state is wretched.

They can shut our media up any moment, as it was with swine flu, when the Ministry of Information issued warnings for spreading panic news. It will be exactly the same now.

What will they do if there are many sick people? Where will they get the ventilator? For each such patient needs mechanical ventilation. And how many do we have? Well, we maybe 7-8 for the entire district, all in the intensive care unit of the Central District Hospital. What's next? Wait in the corridor, until the one who is now under IVL dies, so that they put you in his place?

- And what measures should be taken if Belarus had the opportunity?

- Look at China again. And what do we have here? We have not even blocked entry for foreigners from infected countries. They hold sportive championships in Raubichy instead.