Onishchenko advises to learn from Belarus how to fight COVID

When addressing the participants of a video conference of the Eurasian Economic Union capitals today, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Gennady Onishchenko, said Belarus had chosen the correct path in combating coronavirus infection, BelTA reports

“I think it is correct,” he said when asked of the Belarusian tactics of fighting the pandemic. “In the early days of its outbreak, you jumped on your President. He then immediately announced [that no lockdowns would be introduced in the country – BelTA’s remark], saying that ‘we will approach the problem in a differentiated way’.”

“That was a right and reasonable statement of your President. I do not see that it was a mistake – taking into account morbidity, intensity of the epidemic process, mortality, and so on,” the academician shared his opinion.

Meanwhile, Mr. Onishchenko believes Belarusians are not quite active in getting vaccinated against COVID-19. “Actually, they should catch up,” he noted.

According to the academician, Belarus has benefitted from the pandemic in a certain way. “Belarus now enjoys a positive and materialised result from coronavirus infection: vaccine production. It can be further repurposed for production of other drugs. Meanwhile, the country did not have its own vaccine production before – so, learn from Belarus,” Mr. Onishchenko said, addressing a journalist from Kyrgyzstan.