“Lukashenka Does Just the Opposite”

What has prevented the dictator from introducing quarantine with neighbouring countries?

As of March 17, the number of those infected with coronavirus worldwide exceeded 179 thousand people. In Spain alone, almost 2 thousand people have contracted the virus in a day. In this case, the governments of democratic countries update the epidemic data several times a day.

Against this background, the Belarusian Ministry of Health, silent for several days, made a short statement that there had been no cases of coronavirus in Belarus over the past day.

Lukashenka himself demonstrates such an attitude to a dangerous pandemic. At the final meeting with ministers, the dictator never mentioned the coronavirus issue. And on "personnel Monday" he was giving out "advice" on the struggle against infection which doctors had already managed to call nonsense: to drive tractors, go to a sauna and drink vodka. It is no wonder that even the Kremlin found the measures against coronavirus in Belarus unsatisfactory and closed the border with our country.

What can this policy of the Belarusian authorities lead to in the conditions of the pandemic? Yury Voronezhtsev, a physicist, Doctor of Science, former secretary of the commission on investigation of causes and consequences of the Chernobyl incident in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, answers the questions of Charter97.org.

- The Belarusian Ministry of Health is either silent for a few days or states that there are no new cases of coronavirus in the country. However, many people from the countries facing the pandemic return to Belarus. Do the figures provided by the Ministry of Health reflect the real picture? Are they credible?

- This will be my subjective opinion, as a man who has seen a lot of things and investigated something. My job at the Chernobyl Commission and various associations related to the availability of environmental information has taught me to "trust, but verify". Unfortunately, we can't verify it, because everything is closed. But I do not trust the official information.

- How would you comment on Lukashenka's "advice" to drive tractors, go to the sauna and drink vodka?

- It is barely commentable. I am not an expert in a narrow medical field to assess such a word salad. It would be funny, but people are mocked in this way. He does it in an "election year". If we had had real elections, he would have had 0% votes after such speeches.

- Quarantine and restriction of social contacts have already been introduced in almost all countries and absolutely all neighbours of Belarus. Why aren't the Belarusian authorities still doing it?

- Everything depends on one person, who has been doing just the opposite in recent years. I do not understand why quarantine has not been introduced. My wife and I have two children with a huge age gap. Their school period took about 20 years. We have recently remembered that there were five or six quarantines and extended vacations. Quarantines were introduced both on flu and chickenpox; that is, preventive measures were introduced automatically.

Lukashenka praises the Chinese that they did well but contradicts himself. After all, they did everything well because they introduced a strict quarantine. Even the enterprises were stopped, not to mention schools.

I see our schoolchildren walking in the streets and coughing. Then they go home. We do not know what happens there, especially considering that children from our Homel region often go to Italy.

Given common sense, it's difficult to make any conclusions about the measures taken by the Belarusian authorities. It is high time for us to introduce quarantine.

- What can be the consequences of such negligence in the face of a pandemic? What can the situation be in the absence of quarantine?

- It will be my subjective opinion. I've been so many hospitals in recent years, let alone outpatient clinics. On the one hand, we have a good healthcare system. But this is what my doctors know, who have gone abroad for permanent residence, as there is not enough funding. If there were, it would be a different story. Our health care sector is just a beggar.

- Can we compare today's actions of the Belarusian authorities with the policy pursued by the USSR authorities after the Chernobyl accident?

- It is very similar. It would seem that elementary things had to be done. They have the same motivation why it is not done: they do not want people to panic. What kind of panic would it be if in 1986 they told everyone to come to clinics in April to get iodine drugs for free? Do you know how many lives it could have saved?

The only disease that medical criminals have admitted is thyroid cancer. It isn't so. The outbreak of cancer in our region is the consequences of Chernobyl; even amateurs admit it.

Primitive actions were enough to prevent panic and save thousands of lives. Now, quarantine is required. Take the action list of Poles or Lithuanians and copy it. But Lukashenka has already said that "I and my people will not follow the civilized world".

- How do you assess the state of Belarusian health care? Is it ready to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which is already taking thousands of lives in Europe?

- I don't think so. I wish there would not be an outbreak. We have medical specialists. But we also have a system that lacks money. There are good clinics. There are few of them. Everything else is in terrible conditions. You know, when beds are bad and there is one toilet, and people have wild pains after surgery... I pray to God for us not to have anything wrong here.

- Pensioners and people with chronic diseases who are constantly taking medication are at risk. How do you assess the situation of these people in our country? What will happen to them if the epidemic takes the scale of that in Europe?

- Our pensions... If a person has a chronic disease, one always has a choice: buy some products or some medicine. It'll be hard for old people. I'm scared because I have zero immunity at age 64. I'm trying to stay home more now.

- What urgent measures should Belarus take now because of the coronavirus?

- Quarantine must be introduced in all educational institutions. It will be harder to introduce quarantine in kindergartens because parents work. But employers can compromise, introduce flexible working hours. Only desire is needed. The key is to stop beating the chest and say we're the smartest. We have to observe what our neighbours do and act together.

- What final assessment would you give to the actions of the Belarusian authorities? Would they be as guilty of the repercussions caused by silence as the USSR authorities?

- Like all of us, I would like God to look from above and say: stop it, it's enough for you to be scared. I think that later ministers and doctors will be awarded. Without irony and sarcasm, I wanted it to be like that. I'm ready now to award these people to avoid expected consequences. If we have an outbreak like in Italy or France, they will find a scapegoat and say that one threw infected rats into the water supply system.

They won't plead guilty; it's happened in smaller episodes. When a billion dollars are invested in a company, loans are taken, they praise how clever they are, and then it turns out that the Chinese have deceived them. As a result, it takes another half a billion and a completely different person, not the one who initiated it, turns out to be guilty. We know who initiates such things. They'll be held liable. After all, a pitcher goes often to the well but is broken at last.

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