MINSK, 19 October (BelTA) – Healthcare Minister Dmitry Pinevich answered journalists' questions following the meeting with the president and said when the incidence will likely start to decline, BelTA has learned.
"According to our analytical data, Belarus hit the incidence peak about 3,5 - 4 weeks ago. According to the experience of other countries that dealt with the delta variant shows that this peak lasts about two months and then the incidence rate declines sharply,” the healthcare minister noted. At the same time, he cautioned against making direct analogies with what happened in India or in the Russian capital during the outbreak of the delta variant: "There is a winter factor. When we look at India or the outbreaks in Moscow, it was summer and a slightly different environment."
"We reached the peak about a month ago,” Dmitry Pinevich noted. “I think that the incidence will start declining in early or mid November. ” If we take a look at the regions, the most intense epidemic situation is in Minsk, Minsk Oblast and Gomel Oblast. The situation with COVID-19 in Grodno is the best one now.
Dmitry Pinevich said that the epidemic situation is directly affected by the rate of vaccination. According to him, people have been actively getting the first dose in recent days - the figures sometimes exceed 30,000 per day. The Healthcare Ministry expects that by the end of the year the number of vaccinated people in Belarus will reach 5 million. “This year we should get 5 million vaccinated people. This will be the main contribution to the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the country,” said the minister. In his words, there are 800,000 doses of vaccines in Belarus now. Another shipment of vaccines is expected this week, and a large batch of Chinese vaccines will arrive in Belarus next week.
Speaking of the vaccination, Dmitry Pinevich provided convincing data: of the total number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, only 4% of them are vaccinated. There are practically no vaccinated among those in intensive care. These are not more than 0.5% of them. The minister once again stressed the need to get vaccinated, but added that vaccination would remain voluntary in Belarus.
