MINSK, 15 October (BelTA) – The whole world has come to realize that Belarus' COVID-19 response strategy was right, Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health, Physical Education, Family and Youth Policy of the House of Representatives of Belarus, told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“Our strategy during the first wave relied on the capacity of our healthcare system. We had a sufficient number of beds in infectious diseases units, enough oxygen points, trained specialists and well-developed protocols, which made our strategy successful. The whole world has come to understand that it was our response strategy that really worked,” Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak said.
On 15 October Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Valery Mitskevich met with WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge. Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak also took part in the meeting.
“The number one issue that Belarus is discussing with the World Health Organization deals with treatment and prevention of the further spread of the coronavirus infection. This matter dominated the agenda of the meeting. In addition to the provision of medical and preventive care, we talked about psychological assistance to our patients and discussed the projects that Belarus is implementing jointly with the World Health Organization. Of course, Belarus shares its experience with the World Health Organization and takes into account international algorithms and protocols and adapts them to its COVID-19 response strategy,” the MP said.
Lyudmila Makarina-Kibak is confident that mandatory face masks and social distancing in public places are effective measures to curb COVID-19. “I believe that it is not a tougher punishment, but an awareness raising campaign, including by MPs, that should help us fight the pandemic. We show by our own example that a person should be responsible not only for their own health, but also for the health of people around them. We know very well that people who do not wear a mask put themselves at risk of getting sick, and are most likely to pass the infection to someone else, which is the main threat. We will carry out our awareness raising campaign, and we understand that people in Belarus are responsible enough to act wisely and appropriately,” she added.
