MINSK, 8 October (BelTA) – People will be required to wear face masks and maintain physical distance in public places as from 9 October, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Healthcare Minister, Chief Sanitary Inspector Aleksandr Tarasenko.
Starting 9 October citizens will be required to wear face masks and maintain distance in shops, public catering outlets, consumer service outlets, theaters, movie theaters, during visits to mass events, stadiums, enterprises, healthcare institutions, drugstores, and other places.
Aleksandr Tarasenko said that the Healthcare Ministry had updated sanitary norms and rules concerning the prevention of flu and COVID-19 due to the unfavorable epidemic situation in all parts of the country. The updated rules will come into force on 9 October.
The new rules will hold natural persons (citizens) liable for breaking them. People will be required to observe the rules in public transportation of all kinds, including taxi. The sanitary rules also specify how face masks are to be worn: masks have to cover the nose, the mouth, and the chin.
The sanitary and epidemiological service will work together with government agencies concerned, primarily the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Transport and Communications Ministry, to audit the observance of the new rules. “We are going to initially check how corporations and individuals observe these rules. We are going to convince the population to maintain distance and wear medical masks or gauze bandages. Other measures may be employed later on. We are not talking about fines for now,” Aleksandr Tarasenko noted.
