MINSK, 4 November (BelTA) – The number of COVID-19 cases in most regions of Belarus is now lower than during the previous wave, Healthcare Minister Dmitry Pinevich told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“We are gradually overcoming this wave. We get updates every morning, we communicate directly with the regions. We have only two regions - Minsk Oblast and the city Minsk - where the number of cases is higher than in the previous wave,” Dmitry Pinevich said. He added that other regions have fewer cases compared with the previous wave.
At the same time, the minister emphasized that this does not mean that healthcare workers can ease their guard. Vaccinations and social distancing are still relevant. “We should be more consistent and persistent in this,” he said.
Delta remains the dominant variant during this wave. “A lot of people say, and we also observe it that this variant is different from the Wuhan variant. We have a completely different situation, a greater number of severe cases, their treatment is much more complicated, including in hospitals,” Dmitry Pinevich said. He added that the approaches to handling COVID-19 cases during this wave are pretty much the same though.
According to the minister, now the most vulnerable population groups include not only the elderly, but also children, pregnant women. This is why Belarus started vaccinating pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. “By the way, the vaccination of these groups is making good progress,” he said.
Dmitry Pinevich noted that more and more articles in reputable scientific journals and the media cite vaccine manufacturers who discuss a possibility of vaccinating children. “We plan to vaccinate children next year. What groups of children? Probably, we will apply the same principle as before: children who attend educational institutions and get sick too often,” he said. The minister believes that soon the COVID-19 vaccination will become seasonal just like the flu vaccination.
