MINSK, 19 February (BelTA) –The Chinese authorities has showed a tough steely response to the spread of the virus, Professor Viktor Shadursky, Dean of the International Relations Department at Belarusian State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, said during the meeting of the Expert Community project “Coronavirus: Economy of Fear” in BelTA's press center.
The expert noted that the Chinese authorities took unprecedented quarantine measures to stop the virus. “China has imposed strong restrictions, which will have definite economic consequences. In this case China showed a new way of strong, tough response to the epidemic,” Viktor Shadursky said.
The participants of the roundtable discussion noted that foreign mass media have been whipping up hysterics over the coronavirus. The fact that the virus outbreak occurred in the Hubei province, one of the economic centers of China, has raised the interest to COVID-19. Wuhan is the fifth largest Chinese city, with a population of 12 million. “Wuhan is a transport hub. It has been closed over the virus, which influenced the freight traffic. The adjacent cities have also been closed. It complicates the situation and serves as a contributing factor to tensions,” said Aleksei Avdonin, an analyst at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISI). But today's situation differs from the outbreak of atypical pneumonia SARS in 2003. “China has an experience and we see how effectively the country is using it,” the expert emphasized.
