Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko today made the incredible claim that no-one has died – or will die – from coronavirus in his repressive ex-Soviet state.
The dictator ignored his own country’s official figures showing 29 deaths from Covid-19 and brushed aside complaints by doctors and human rights activists that he risks ‘genocide’ by not taking the virus seriously and failing to order a lockdown.
Instead he told his 9.5. million people: ‘We have already found combinations of drugs to rescue people.’
Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, has insisted that the ex-Soviet has had no coronavirus deaths, and that no one will die from the virus
The 65-year-old – who has ruled capital Minsk with an iron fist for more than a quarter of a century – did not explain his supposed cure but said: ‘People are afraid.
‘So I want to tell them the following thing – no-one has died from coronavirus in our country. No-one!
‘They died from a bunch of chronic diseases they had been suffering from.’
These included ‘cardiovascular inefficiency, pulmonary failure, and diabetes plus other complicated diagnoses – and there was coronavirus on top. of that’, he said, claiming the World Health Organisation agreed with him.
Addressing patients now suffering with Covid-19 he went on: ‘They should not even worry. No-one will die from coronavirus in our country. I am saying this in public. This is my firm conviction judging by analysis not only of previous years.
‘We already have this year’s experience. ‘And, from our experience, from Chinese, American, European experience – of how this disease is running – we see how we should work,’ he said.
‘Therefore, we will do our best to fight for every person. If a person stays positive, they will be healthy.’
Earlier he claimed that coronavirus could be cured by drinking vodka, driving a tractor, going to a sauna or playing with baby goats.
Lukashenko has refused to ban football and ice hockey, or close malls or churches, branding coronavirus a ‘psychosis’ and claiming world powers are exploiting it to extend their dominance.
On Sunday a top flight football game went ahead between FC Dynamo Brest and Isloch Minsk, and two other games, with thousands watching.
Belarus is the only country in Europe hosting professional sport in front of spectators. The Belarusian Premier League kicked off its 30th season on March 19, despite the coronavirus pandemic
With home crowds dwindling due to the risk of catching the coronavirus, and some fans boycotting the league’s games over safety concerns, Dinamo Brest filled out the crowd with mannequins while attendees sat spaced apart to watch the match
Factories, kindergartens, schools, bars, nightclubs and cinemas remain open.
One virologist Andrus Voynich said: ‘This is on the boundary of a crime and the active destruction of his own people.
‘I can only compare this with the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Only there it was done manually, and here with the help of an epidemic.
‘I don’t have other comparisons for Lukashenko’s actions.’
Belarus people also signed a petition pleading: ‘We want to live.’
Minsk-based Voynich says he is in touch with medics too scared to speak in the repressive state.
Strongman Lukashenko is fond of being seen with glamorous women and personally advised beauty queen Maria Vasilevich, 22, on her preparations for Miss World 2018, when she came third.
He was later seen hugging her at a sports event and dancing with her.
He is grooming his son, 16 this year, as his successor, say reports.
The child’s mother was his personal doctor who Lukashenko later banished.
Meanwhile, in Kiev, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said Monday that a famous historic monastery in Kyiv is closing for quarantine after dozens of its monks have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko says the Pechersk Monastery had 90 cases of coronavirus, including 63 in the last 24 hours. He said the city authorities will send a medical team to conduct extensive testing at the monastery.
KIEV: The exterior wall of the monastery in Kiev that has had 90 cases of the coronavirus, including 63 in the last 24 hours. It has now been closed after dozens of monks tested positive
The monastery is known for its extensive system of caves and tunnels, containing centuries-old cells for monks and burial places. It’s one of the top tourist sites in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine has registered 3,102 coronavirus cases, including 495 in the capital, and 93 deaths.
In Serbia, police have arrested the head of a nursing home in the southern city of Nis after 139 people were infected with the new coronavirus at the institution.
The manager, identified only by his initials M.S., is suspected of ‘committing a grave criminal act against public health,’ police said in a statement on Monday. The suspect did not undertake all necessary measures and actions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease, the statement added.
Police say that those infected include 135 residents and four staff. The head of the Gerontology Center Nis has been ordered into a 48-hour detention pending questioning by the prosecutors, said the police statement.
Serbia has banned all people over 65 years old from leaving their homes to protect the elderly population from getting infected with the new coronavirus. Other strict measures include daily and weekend curfews.
SERBIA: The head of a Serbian nursing home in the southern city of Nis has been arrested after 139 people were infected with the coronavirus. Picture from Google Maps
SERBIA: The manager, identified only by his initials M.S., is suspected of ‘committing a grave criminal act against public health’. Pictured: The interior of the nursing home in Nis, Serbia