In Minsk, the Kastrychnitski district administration is allegedly encouraging those who have recovered from COVID-19 to show up at the Victory parade on May, 9.
Minsk resident Hanna Vosipava says her family has received such invitation.
According to the woman, her mother and she spent a few weeks in hospital due to the novel coronavirus. However, when her test showed a negative result, Hanna was discharged. Now she is at home, and the doctors from the local outpatient clinic do not know how to treat her. The woman still has severe pneumonia, fever and dyspnoea.
“We were invited as those who contracted the coronavirus infection. A girl phoned and politely invite us to take part in the parade, she offered seats in stand #3. But I was not nice. My mother and I have not reeled from the death of my father, from the disease; such thing simply blow my mind!” she stressed.
When asked by Belsat, the assistant of the ideological department deputy head said she did not know about the invitations and noted that she had no right to say anything to journalists. The woman suggested Mr Alyaksei Shybeka might be aware of the details, but unfortunately, the official was not reachable for a comment. Belsat.eu will try to contact him later.
Hanna’s father, 69-year-old Yury Vosipau, died from COVID-19 in hospital on April, 4. At first, he seemed to have caught a cold, but it developed into the strong form of pneumonia within some days. If her father had been tested for coronavirus at the very beginning, he could be still alive, Hanna believes.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka is the only post-Soviet leader who refused to postpone the mass celebration of the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. A few days ago, the head of state said there was no reason to call off the Victory parade as the situation was ‘normal’ despite the lack of quarantine. He expressed confidence that the event would not do any harm to the participants’ health. In his view, the authorities do not need to urge people to attend it as there are ‘thousands’ of volunteers.
As of May 6, the Belarusian Health Ministry has registered the total of 19,255 persons infected with the novel coronavirus in the country; 112 patients have died.. In spite of the increasing infection rate, the Belarusian authorities have not introduced any quarantine measures. President Lukashenka believes that imposing a nationwide lockdown would not improve the situation in Belarus. In his opinion, such steps might deal a crippling blow to the daily life of the nation. Although the Belarusian leader admitted that the recommendations by the World Health Organisation should be studied in detail, he stressed the country would run its own course.
