COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus
The COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 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.
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization 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.The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant death toll.
Timeline
February–March 2020
April 2020
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
Government response
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." 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". 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.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.
As of 30 March, Belarus had not initiated a nation-wide quarantine effort. 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.
On 4 April, the Ministry of Education of Belarus announced a one-week extension of spring vacation for schools. On 10 April another one-week extension followed.
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.
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 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.
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 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".
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".
According to Alexander Lukashenko remarks from the 13 April official meeting, no people had died from COVID-19 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".
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". 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.
On 25 April, a nation-wide Subbotnik took place in Belarus, reportedly involving as many as 2.3 million people.
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: " kind of spread-out. There were no gatherings".
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, members of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences and recovered COVID-19 patients.
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 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".
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: " 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!".
On 11 June, the 14-day self-quarantine requirement, issued on 9 April, was lifted from persons entering Belarus from 37 countries. 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. On 25 June, persons entering Belarus from 14 more countries became exempt from the self-quarantine requirement. On 9 July, the list was extended by 12 countries. On 15 July, Russia was excluded from the list.
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.
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". In was further noted by Bondar that "normal people do not wear masks" and that a facial mask is a "microbial hotbed".
On 22 July, the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Lidia Yermoshina, announced an epidemiologically motivated limitation on the amount 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".
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".
Suspected statistics falsification
According to Stepan Putilo, an independent Belarusian journalist and owner of the :ru:NEXTA|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:8 May - +1251
9 May - +1271
10 May - +1183
11 May - +1242
On 13 May, NEXTA reported a total of 27,717 COVID-19 cases and a daily gain of 1,369.
According to the statistics presented during the 22 May 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 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.
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.
According to the 22 July remark by Lidia Yermoshina, 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 amount 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.
Censorship and repression
On 30 April, 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. According to the press-secretary of the Ministry of Health, Yulia Borodun, Sergey Lazar's dismissal was not related to the publication.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.
On 11 May 2020, two Youth Bloc 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.
Economic impact
On 30 March 2020, Belarus and IMF started negotiations on a $900 million loan intended to compensate the economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic.According to the National Bank of Belarus data, inflation in March accelerated and accounted to 4.9%, 0.85% higher than in February.
Belarus is 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 have been cancelled to mitigate the spread of the virus.
On 10 April, the United States Agency for International Development issued a $1.3 million financial aid for Belarus to help counter the coronavirus pandemic.
On 25 April, it was reported the agreement on a €90 million loan was reached between Belarus and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On 23 July, the agreement was approved by the presidential decree No.292.
According to the 27 April 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 are the main focus of the Belarusian government amid the pandemic crisis.
WHO assessment and recommendations
On 11 April, 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 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, 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".On 21 April, 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.
On 28 April, 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. 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.
On 6 May, 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 have straightforward recommendations. If there is no urgent need, they should be postponed or cancelled".
According to the 12 June 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".