Experts support Belarusian leader’s wise position: lockdowns and masks useless during COVID pandemic
Belarus’ rightness recognised worldwide
The recent news caused a great stir around the world: the US Congress recognised that masks and lockdowns had been useless during the COVID pandemic, and the methods of combating coronavirus had been politically motivated. It took two years for the investigators from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to come to this brilliant idea. Actually, Belarus realised that on the first days of the pandemic thanks to the clear policy set by its President. While Europe and America were imposing harsh lockdowns and a total sanitary dictatorship, Belarus was not fanning mass hysteria, closing borders and locking people at home. Belarusians were criticised for that, but the country’s path is now recognised as the most reasonable – quod erat demonstrandum…
“The West and Russia are not ashamed any more: they rather repeat what I said two years ago. What is necessary to cope with COVID? Primarily, there should be no panic, and a vaccine is also needed. We were criticised from all sides, but the whole world is now following the Belarusian path. They actually cannot forgive us for having to repeat this path themselves today, thus recognising our rightness,” President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said in his Address to the Belarusian People and the National Assembly on January 28th, 2022.
What was guiding the West?..
During the pandemic, Belarus increased the number of repurposed clinics and departments, and not only infectious disease specialists but also doctors of other specialties worked in the red zones. Students of medical schools and colleges joined the experienced doctors. As a result, the country’s production facilities continued to work, the economy was preserved, and the (free!) medical assistance was provided to everyone who needed it.
The situation was developing completely differently in other European countries and the United States at that time. Despite the strict lockdowns and restrictions, the incidence there was growing record every day. However, in February 2022, the world leader in education and research, Johns Hopkins University, made an unexpected statement: there was virtually no evidence that forced lockdowns in Europe and the United States significantly affected COVID mortality rates. In turn, they contributed to huge economic and social losses. Nevertheless, the screws in some countries tightened even more: people were not allowed out of their homes, they were forbidden to go to work and fined for not wearing masks even in the fresh air. Protests were quelled.
Svyatoslav Velgin, the Deputy Chief Physician at Minsk’s City Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, chief freelance infectious disease specialist of the Minsk City Executive Committee’s Healthcare Branch, believes strict lockdowns operational for a long time were definitely excessive, “I always advocated the position of reasonable prevention, which was carried out in our country – which envisaged a social distance, appropriate seating, disinfection of transport vehicles, public places, and hands when entering and leaving a room. The economic activity should not stop! As for masks, they are ineffective in the fresh air. Moreover, they make no sense if worn outside premises. Moreover, the ban on leaving enclosed spaces caused huge damage to health. Even the Chinese, who were quite strict about the implementation of infectious measures, gathered together in isolation centres, engaged in gymnastics and other active exercises.”
Test passed with dignity
Any anti-epidemic measures are a balance of needs and opportunities, where there is a necessity sometimes to choose between two evils. Meanwhile, the restrictive measures, like all other interventions, entail certain consequences. Maya Bandatskaya, an associate professor at the Belarusian State Medical University’s Department of Epidemiology, commented, “Perhaps the countries of the West and the United States had even no idea of the economic, psychological and epidemiological consequences that would overtake them. Meanwhile, the Belarusian healthcare system was coping quite well because the republic had much more bedspace and many more opportunities for hospitalisation than other states. At the initial stage, the sanitary service – which most of the countries lack – helped deter the spread of the infection. Epidemiological investigations and isolation of contacts also played their role. It was clear already at the beginning of the pandemic that – given the emerged infection – everyone will get sick, irrespective of any restrictive measures. It was impossible to escape the disease, a vaccine was needed.”
Ms. Bandatskaya wondered whether the congressmen, while introducing the mandatory wearing of masks, had thought that they needed to be used correctly. “Masks cannot be on around the clock and all year round, since a person will fail to have access to the necessary amount of oxygen in this case. Moreover, they must be changed every two hours or as soon as they become wet, otherwise they begin to infect those who wear them and people around. Did everyone have the opportunity to change a mask, when serious fines were envisaged in many countries for its absence? Everything has its limits, and a reasonable approach is always needed – which may be a problem to find. Our country lived through that experience with dignity, and it has managed to avoid many serious consequences,” the expert noted.
The Belarusian leader did not give in to the COVID hysteria from its very beginning. He did not introduce a lockdown in the country, and his decision was supported not only by infectious diseases specialists and epidemiologists, but also representatives of various professions.
For example, Maria Yuchkovich, a teacher from the Dokshitsy District, was ill with COVID, and she is very grateful to the doctors who helped her. The woman believes that the strict restrictions created in some countries have brought nothing good.
“We monitor the situation in the world and understand what lockdowns and production stoppages have led to: the collapse of the economy and huge inflation, the paralysis of industrial branches and destruction of private businesses. In some countries, schoolchildren and students missed classes for months, they failed to get proper education while studying online,” Ms. Yuchkovich said. “Thanks to our President and the reliable healthcare system built according to social standards, we lived through that tough time and avoided the destruction of the economy. Our people were not infringed upon, and we treated everything wisely. Belarusians got vaccinated and avoided crowded public areas as much as possible. By now, the whole world has realised how right our President was, and that we were acting correctly.”
Many questions still remain, with no answers yet
There is an interesting point. The US Congress report reads, “The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.” Reading these lines through, it is possible to assume that SARS‑CoV‑2 was created artificially. However, for some reason, the report does not give an answer to the question of who exactly could have created it.
Many versions and conspiracy theories exist, and quite a few of them say that the insidiousness of the virus fades against the background of geopolitical doctrinaire…
No need to assert anything and repeat the chilling stories, but the figures speak for themselves. According to the World Bank, China’s GDP growth rate made 6 percent in the pre-COVID year 2019. In the United States, it stood at just 2.5 percent. Maybe someone, realising that the hegemony was rapidly slipping away, decided to bring down the Chinese economy through some sort of malicious actions. Actually, it was not only China that was weakened. As a result of a huge burden on clinics, production shutdowns and mass lockdowns, the EU economy plunged into a deep crisis. According to statistics, in Q2 2020, the EU's GDP decreased by 14.4 percent. The German economy dropped to the 2011 level, and that of Spain – to the 2002 figures. In turn, Italy collapsed to the level of the 1990s.
This COVID related story proves once again: Belarus was right in choosing its own path. The President was not afraid to keep to his own course. He remained true to his beliefs and did what was best for the country. He was right! Belarus should be definitely grateful to such a leader — with an iron will, his own opinion and enormous experience.
