Police Not Allowed To Leave And Enter Vitsebsk Region

All employees have been informed about the Minister's order.

Belarusian police officers were banned from entering and leaving Vitsebsk region. At least several police officers are under quarantine. There have also been introduced substantial restrictions on moving of policemen around the country, tut.by reports.

This information has been published by the NEXTA telegram channel. The Interior Ministry says that restrictions on business trips have been introduced not only in Vitsebsk region, but also in other regions of Belarus.

The validity of the document, posted by the NEXTA telegram channel, is confirmed by the sources of tut.by in the police - from different regions and not related to each other.

They claim that on Friday, March 27, they were informed about the order of Interior Minister Yury Karayeu, which prohibits visiting Vitsebsk region and leaving it. At that, according to the police officers, it was about only one region of the country - Vitsebsk region.

"All the employees were familiarized with this order of the Minister, it was was even banned for the police leadership from Vitsebsk region to come to Minsk for meetings," - one of the interlocutors told tut.by.

"The entry and exit to and from Vitsebsk region have been banned for police officers. If there's no quarantine because of the coronavirus in the country, then why are there such measures? Is it that Vitsebsk is becoming Belarusian Bergamo?" - one of our readers asks.

The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Volha Chamadanava, commented to tut.by:

- In general, it was recommended to exclude all business trips to the regions for our department. Employees can go outside their region in case of the most urgent need. And to date, none of our employees actually go on business trips to other regions. This is done for epidemiological purposes: to avoid contacts, prevention, avoidance of viral diseases.

Volha Chamadanava assures that this concerns the activities of police officers throughout the country:

- This policy is equally respected in Vitsebsk, as well as in Mahiliou, Hrodna and all other regions.

As for whether some police officers from Vitsebsk region are currently under quarantine because of the coronavirus, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted:

- Yes, there are employees in Vitsebsk region who may be suspected of disease. They are under examination. But this does not indicate that they have coronavirus and that because of this we have restricted entry and exit to the region. First of all, it's an epidemiological component.

- Have the employees who are under suspicion been tested for coronavirus?

- Certainly, they perform all the activities that [doctors] offer. But right now, it doesn't matter if these people are police officers or other social services. The most important goal now for everyone is to implement the preventive measures that the Ministry of Health recommends.