{"id":45145,"date":"2020-04-21T15:30:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/?p=45145"},"modified":"2025-06-30T19:16:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T17:16:03","slug":"by-2020-04-21-belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenkos-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/by-2020-04-21-belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenkos-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence\/","title":{"rendered":"BY 2020.04.21 Lukashenko\u2019s Business as usual Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-style-default\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" src=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Andrei-Lemeshonok-and-Alexander-Lukashenko-at-St-Elisabeth-Convent.webp\" alt=\"Andrei Lemeshonok and Alexander Lukashenko at St Elisabeth Convent\" class=\"wp-image-51467\" style=\"object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Andrei-Lemeshonok-and-Alexander-Lukashenko-at-St-Elisabeth-Convent.webp 800w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Andrei-Lemeshonok-and-Alexander-Lukashenko-at-St-Elisabeth-Convent-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Andrei-Lemeshonok-and-Alexander-Lukashenko-at-St-Elisabeth-Convent-768x509.webp 768w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Andrei-Lemeshonok-and-Alexander-Lukashenko-at-St-Elisabeth-Convent-18x12.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Andrei Lemeshonok and Alexander Lukashenko at St Elisabeth Convent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Belarus and Coronavirus<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mind-Blowing Negligence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lukashenko&#8217;s advice: Drink Vodka,<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>With the rest of the continent on coronavirus lockdown,<\/em> <em>it\u2019s still business as usual in Belarus.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zfyDuVL2jxQ?si=vD9QSIuH2-TX2iS3\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The source in English:<br><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/64\/14\/84\/602x338_cmsv2_92822d28-d6d4-5d91-8b7d-77bd27a99b49-4641484.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talks with believers during the Orthodox<br>Easter service at a church in a village on the outskirts of Minsk<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>Lukashenko, Belarus&#8217;s president, advises drinking more vodka(!?).\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there is no shortage of dissenting voices, and the approach being followed in Minsk has created divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Father-and-son Alexander and Dima \u0410leksejevy, who live in the town of Brest near the border with Poland, are a case in point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dima thinks the move to stop football elsewhere in Europe is \u201cridiculous\u201d, something he attributes to a \u201csilly psychosis\u201d in the \u201cspoiled\u201d West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He continues to support his team, FC Dynamo Brest,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/10\/football-for-dummies-belarus-clubs-replace-fans-with-mannequins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which came to prominence recently when it decided to replace its stay-at-home fans with mannequins<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But his sexagenarian father, Alexander, watches the team on television from home and is against his eldest son going to matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>\u201cLukashenko is a complete idiot,\u201d said Alexander. \u201cHe is playing with fire and puts the lives of thousands of Belarusians in danger\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His criticism of Lukashenko is not political; he has given Belarus\u2019 long-time president his unwavering support until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Flawed advice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few world leaders can match Lukashenko\u2019s scornful derision of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As well as drinking more vodka, his other eyebrow-raising tips for fending off the virus include \u201cturn the steam on in the bathhouse\u201d, \u201ceat more garlic,\u201d and \u201csit behind the wheel of the tractor in the fields\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>When a prominent actor died of COVID-19 at the end of March, the Belarusian leader blamed the victim.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/64\/14\/84\/808x550_cmsv2_74e96bfa-03e1-50ec-a795-f08a1e396d33-4641484.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Fans sit among mannequins with the faces of \u201cvirtual fans\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe requested people of venerable age to be more vigilant \u2026 he was about to turn 80, so why was he out on the streets and, moreover, still working?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook, his wife and daughter are fine because they have a stronger immune system, and he, poor thing, succumbed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>As of April 21, Belarus has reported more than 6,000 infections and 51 COVID-19 deaths. Up to 76,000 Belarusians had been tested by April 16 in 24 stationary and mobile laboratories across the country, according to the country\u2019s health ministry.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll the victims were suffering from different chronic illnesses,\u201d a health ministry press release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ministry did not respond to Euronews&#8217; requests for comment on the Coronavirus in Belarus, and the country\u2019s leading epidemiologists were also reticent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lockdown at this point would be a redundant measure,\u201d a doctor in a Minsk hospital told Euronews on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe see that some countries, like Sweden, have not implemented it, thus avoiding a strain on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A testing time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belarus tests people with symptoms of COVID-19, as well as those who have been in close contact with confirmed cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The country, with a population of nearly 10 million, performs around 4,000 tests a day. Experts say that\u2019s too few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alexander Loban, a doctor from the Belarusian town of Grodno, who has spent 16 years in Dutch hospitals, was among the first Belarusian medics to ring the alarm about Belarus\u2019s approach to dealing with the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before flying to the capital, Minsk, from the Netherlands in mid-March, he sent an open letter to President Lukashenko, urging him to shut down all borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that got him into trouble. Paramedics, accompanied by policemen, showed up at his front door. They said he\u2019d just come from a highly infected country and insisted on taking his temperature. With 37.1\u2103 on the thermometer \u2014 which Loban now doubts \u2014 he was taken to the hospital against his consent. He spent a week alone and was later released with no signs of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ideology is not epidemiology<\/strong>!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am sure my hospitalization was not for epidemiologic concerns, but for ideological reasons\u201d, Loban told Euronews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the West resorts to lockdown and quarantine in curbing the pandemic, Lukashenko calls it brazenly &#8220;mere flu&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cAn educated man would never speak such crap as the president \u2026 a collapse awaits Belarusian hospitals if the authorities continue downplaying the graveness of the situation\u201d.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Loban believes COVID-19 cases in the country will begin soaring in the days to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am sure we are not hearing and will not be seeing credible statistics on the scope of the pandemic from the health ministry,\u201d he added. \u201cEspecially on the death toll.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The doctor referred to the comments of Belarus\u2019 deputy health minister, Elena Bogdan, who said in a briefing on 9 April that if a patient with coronavirus and a record of chronic illnesses dies, the cause of death should be attributed to the latter, as the virus in the body has been \u201celiminated\u201d during treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cThe approach is preposterous and in stark contrast with the rest of the world\u201d, Loban insisted.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Proactive responsibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet Belarus is not just Lukashenko, and institutions, especially in the capital city of Minsk, are scrambling to take precautionary measures against the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Minsk Metro system has the carriages cleaned each day and posts photos of them on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/64\/14\/84\/750x422_cmsv2_6c9faabe-b7ab-5395-bbfb-28b81cf59d18-4641484.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>\u201cWe are taking it seriously,\u201d Andrej Drob, spokesman of the Minsk Metro, told Euronews<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Even the Belarusian Orthodox Church, a predominant church in Belarus and a devoted supporter of the authoritarian president, is not taking any chances. It has asked people to stay away from churches for now and encouraged them to actively participate in masses held online.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGod hears us everywhere\u2026 if people, instead of continuously repeating the words \u201cpandemic\u201d, \u201ccoronavirus\u201d, \u201cCOVID-19\u201d since the outbreak, had repented and prayed to God, asking Him to forgive, we would perhaps [have] forgotten about the virus by now,\u201d Mitropolit Pavel, head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, is quoted as saying on the church\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to SATIO, a Minsk-based market and opinion research company, 62 percent of Belarusians asked if they trust the Belarusian health system in the face of a pandemic, responded they feared its \u201ccollapse\u201d. Only 17 percent, mainly respondents in the countryside, said they trusted it, and 13 percent, mostly young, see the COVID-19 threat as \u201cexaggerated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>His foolhardy negligence is just mind-blowing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Alexander \u0410leksejev:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same survey showed that two-thirds have started to wash their hands more often and, notably, a significant 48 percent avoid public hotspots now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With COVID-19 cases expected to increase further, President Lukashenko remains unabashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur priority should be and is our economy,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of that will pass, which we already see happening in Europe. However, the economy will remain forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has said Belarus does not have the \u201cluxury\u201d of putting itself under quarantine. \u201cWhat will we eat then?\u201d he asked rhetorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is, namely, the economic consequences of the pandemic that the Belarusian president fears most, experts believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cNo strategy at all\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our highest authorities believe that Belarus, financially and technologically, cannot afford to take the measures that many other countries have implemented. Hence the ignorance, the inconsistencies (of the information and the statistics on COVID-19), the unpreparedness, and the delay in the passing of necessary decisions. In a word, the Belarusian government has no strategy at all,\u201d Janov Poleskij, a Belarusian political analyst, told Euronews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Many authoritarian regimes, including that of Belarus, use crises to restrain civil and political freedoms, among other things.<\/em><\/strong> Not only does the coronavirus weaken the Belarusian regime, but the prolonged economic crisis, coupled with the worsening new conditions of Russian oil imports, also do so, he underscored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a sign of economic trouble ahead, Belarus has this week asked the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a $1 billion (\u20ac920 million) loan to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lukashenko has already lost one stalwart supporter, the older \u0410leksejev in Brest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>\u201cI am not the only one who turned away from the president during the health crisis,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cMany of my acquaintances did so too \u2013 his foolhardy negligence is just mind-blowing\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sources:<\/strong><br><strong># <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence<\/a><br># <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-belarus-idUSKCN21V1PK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-belarus-idUSKCN21V1PK<\/a><br># <a href=\"https:\/\/cepa.org\/article\/conspiracies-and-communion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/cepa.org\/article\/conspiracies-and-communion\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrei Lemeshonok and Alexander Lukashenko at St Elisabeth Convent Belarus and Coronavirus Mind-Blowing Negligence Lukashenko&#8217;s advice: Drink Vodka, With the rest of the continent on coronavirus lockdown, it\u2019s still business as usual in Belarus. The source in English:https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/belarus-and-coronavirus-lukashenko-s-business-as-usual-approach-is-mind-blowing-negligence Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talks with believers during the OrthodoxEaster service at a church in a village [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}