Joint responsibility in COVID fight
Natalya Kochanova, the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly and an authorised representative of the Head of State for the city of Minsk, has met with representatives of the Healthcare Ministry, medical facilities and universities to discuss ways to counter the spread of coronavirus infection
Among those in attendance there were also working groups which ensure monitoring of the COVID-19 related situation in the country’s regions. In her address, Ms. Kochanova noted that it was not the first meeting of the kind, emphasising, “We are all responsible for working with COVID infection in regions. You are aware of a real situation that is now developing in our medical institutions. With this in view, we’ve met to assess the situation in general in each region and in Minsk.”
Ms. Kochanova mentioned that a video conference had been held in the capital – gathering chief physicians of Minsk’s hospitals and polyclinics who reported on the situation in medical institutions. The Chairperson of the Council of the Republic invited the participants to share their views, explaining, “We have plenty of personal protective equipment, so it’s not a matter of concern. We are mostly interested in availability of places in hospitals and oxygen. Although, as I know, we have no problems with this either. Availability of medicines, and, of course, compliance with the sanitary regime are also important issues.”
According to Ms. Kochanova, even though our country has been actively fighting coronavirus infection for two years, there are still issues which need to be addressed and vaccination is among them. A doctor of medical sciences, infectious diseases doctor of the highest category and Rector of Gomel’s State Medical University, Igor Stoma, commented, “By now, more than a third of the Gomel Region’s population have been vaccinated and we continue our work in this direction. I can declare with authority that – no matter what medical possibilities we have – there is no more reliable method of protection against COVID than vaccination. Only 0.25 percent of those hospitalised in the Gomel Region have undergone vaccination. This is not a joke. We should not take this lightly, because the situation is really complicated.”
In turn, the Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Paediatric Infections at BelMAPO (Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education), candidate of medical sciences, associate professor Yuri Gorbich, focused on a potential prognosis of COVID-19. “It's no secret that the fourth wave is now underway. The situation is complicated by the fact that we are all used to living with coronavirus and have become less responsible about wearing masks and social distancing. However, over the past few weeks, our citizens have become more responsible about vaccination, and its pace is increasing – thought, in our opinion, it’s yet insufficient since, at the moment, this is the only measure that assuredly protects against the severe infection,” he stressed.
