Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: Panic can do more harm than coronavirus

MINSK, 19 March (BelTA) – Panic might harm people more than the coronavirus infection itself, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he heard out a report on the epidemiological situation in the country on 19 March, BelTA has learned.

“Despite some criticism, I call this coronavirus nothing else but a psychosis and I will stick to this. We have survived many such psychoses, and we know what this can lead to. I am absolutely convinced that this is another psychosis playing into the hands of some forces and being detrimental to others. But we are facing a specific situation and, of course, must proceed from the situation not only in our country but also outside our country. Why am I acting like this? Because I am absolutely convinced that we can suffer more from panic than from the virus itself. This is what I am concerned about,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.  According to the president, the civilized world has gone mad, and politicians have already started to use the situation for the sake of their interests.

At the same time, the head of state noted that the rapid spread of the disease has shaken things up in the Belarusian health system, especially virology and epidemiology sectors. “It is good that we have kept this system since the Soviet times. We treat people, and what is about the epidemiological situation? This psychosis has shaken things up and made us work harder in this direction,” Aleksandr Lukashenko explained.

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