19 Mar 2020 13:31

Lukashenko: coronavirus is psychosis

MINSK. March 19 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) a psychosis, saying that panic will hurt people more than the virus.

"Despite some criticism on my part, I call this coronavirus nothing other than a psychosis, and I will never deny that, because I've gone through many situations of psychosis together with you, and we know what the results were," the Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying after receiving a report on the epidemiological situation in the country on Thursday.

"Coronavirus is yet another psychosis, which will benefit some people and will harm others," Lukashenko said.

"But we're living in a specific situation, and naturally, we should proceed from the situation not only in our country, but also outside our country. Why am I behaving this way? Because I am absolutely convinced that panic can hurt us more than the virus itself. That's what concerns me the most," he said.

According to BelTA, presidential administration chief Igor Sergeyenko, Security Council State Secretary Andrei Ravkov, and Health Minister Vladimir Karanik reported to Lukashenko on the situation.

As of March 18, Belarus has recorded 51 cases of Covid-19.