Lukashenka To Belarusians: I Hope You Have Already Gone Through That Virus

A diagnosis or self-revelation?

Speaking the other day at the Minsk plant "Belhips", Lukashenka did not hide at all the reasons for not introducing quarantine and actually admitted that he deliberately infects Belarusians with coronavirus. Here are the most eloquent quotes:

- Today, we have stopped almost the entire world economy with this psychosis. Even the Russian Federation, which is similar to us, and we live in practically the same conditions, has started to shut down production as well. You can see what is happening in the economy.

The United States of America... I took it with a critical eye when Trump declared the state of emergency in the United States of America, I defined it as extreme short-sightedness and stupidity, to be frank, on the part of the US leadership. But Trump, as a man who was once engaged in business, was quick on the uptake and I liked his last statement very much. He said the following: if we don't go back to the enterprises immediately and start working, a lot more Americans will die from unemployment, from not starting working than from the coronavirus.

Now you see why I didn't shut down the factories. Although, there was a bunch of advisors (here's the head of administration, he can tell you one day): to close borders, to close enterprises, to lock up everybody for quarantine. At that time, I made a cruel decision: we will lock people up only when necessary.

I have no idea why we should close this enterprise. Because of the virus? I have already said: we have a virus every spring. Well, the coronavirus has been added. And the most important thing, what comes from our experience and from the one of the Chinese? Have you noticed that all the viruses we have are imported from the outside? From Europe, Russia, China. Why do we know that? Because at the borders and at the airports, this is also the border, we've taken control of everyone coming in. If we only detect a single person - we immediately, with the help of the police, the KGB, video cameras, if he's forgotten something, establish who he came into contact with.

The entire healthcare system, the law enforcement agencies, you must have watched, when I was receiving Interior Minister Karayeu - I ordered him to work and help the doctors, because the local policemen know everyone and everything, and to control things. All the special services have been working and doing their job and ensuring the safety of our people. And when we saw that it was the imported coronavirus - we had to react. That's when I made my decision. Yesterday the government formalized at the border, without closing anything. And why close it? Ukraine has closed the border, Poland has closed it, the Baltic States have closed the borders with us. And then the Russian brothers also closed this border.

It's all right - close up, but life goes on and you can't stop it. Three corridors have been defined, please go. Keep in mind, they're not just going. We get money from this, not much, but we do. The economy is spinning. And these heavy transporters are moving back and forth along these corridors. We determined where to eat, where the petrol stations are, where to fill up.

Watching the world. Now, I'm watching Italy very closely because there was a mad outbreak there. They started to reduce the number of deaths somehow - that's an indicator. Watching Spain, it began to twitch. America is far away, across the ocean, but still they are becoming leaders there. A big country, Trump says they're very actively checking, testing the population, so they have a great many manifestations of coronavirus.

We have a perfectly normal life. Watching, one can learn that holidays have been announced, a day off, and so on. I think it's to the damage of it. Because kids, okay, I get it. If you can keep these kids out of school, but if the university students will be sitting somewhere - it looks ridiculous. I have my own one that goes to school. I may have the opportunity to keep the kid isolated somewhere, but I'm not isolating him.

I'm starting to think: tomorrow there will be holidays - we will let all the children go. So they wake up, they go to school along the same way, they get out and about there in a pile of 500 or 600 people. Maybe they've already go through these viruses, their immunity is good, they've survived. Thank God! We don't have a problem with the kids. Neither has the world. And the Chinese tell us there was no problem with the kids.

This is the time the viruses are wandering around. Especially, if it's true, the coronavirus is somehow stirring up this viral situation. I must say that the old people have responded to the request to wander, walk less. We of course mobilized everyone to help the single people get their medicine and food. And the Komsomol was the first to respond, and the unions are in control of the situation.

We've refocused our doctors a little bit. They're doing great, obviously. I'm looking at the neighboring countries: headquarters, TVs on the walls, we'll get a crack at the coronavirus with headquarters. One, two, three headquarters, all mixed up. I categorically forbid creating any kind of headquarters. We have a headquarters in the Ministry of Health. There's a headquarters at the Ministry of Health, watch TV there and take action. The president's administration is supposed to organize public awareness.

When, where, which doctor should speak and say what is going on, what you can actually see if you watch TV and our resources are on the Internet. We have not created anything unnecessary. We have taken control, for 10 days now I have been controlling the work of the Minister of Health and doctors. I have categorically forbidden microbiologists, epidemiologists, doctors and others to prohibit or allow enterprises whether to work or not.

Their job is to treat people. In any situation that arises. If this mixing happens... Under the Constitution, only the president has the right to forbid opening or closing in our country. Come, prove that it is necessary to close something somewhere - we will close it. As it was in this case: they came, here are three corridors from west to east, we did everything, they said - I agreed. And a doctor must treat, a journalist must inform and everyone is supposed to do his or her job. Everyone has a job to do.

So why are we closing and making such a noise? When this coronavirus is over, and even not the virus, but the psychosis - I'll tell you many interesting things. Loads of things. Think about two questions first.

The first question: Is coronavirus a man-made infection or did it come from the air? Who would want it? The second question, we will not answer this question yet, but tell me: has anyone in the world, starting from my fellow politicians and finishing below, tried to use for his own purposes and interests this viral disease or psychosis? Here are two questions to think about: who needs it and who has taken advantage of it. Declared that this is a war. The yellow vests have to be moved from the streets somewhere, someone has elections, someone else has something else. And everybody starts fiddle with it, play with fire. We'll talk about it later.

They closed up, although everyone used to disguise themselves as friends. All of them used to be our friends. I always meant that we should count on ourselves if we want to be sovereign and independent. That's why we'll definitely survive.

I wish the children had no holidays, but, alas, on March 30, the children holidays begin. We will not, we do not change lives. I actually think, well, let's announce the days off. People wake up, wash up, get on the bus, someone on foot, come to work - and that's the way it happens every day except weekends. And at the weekend, you have another way. As soon as your life has changed, I say so figuratively, the virus starts to attack you. In acute periods, unless it's necessary, people's lives shouldn't be changed. Let them walk, work, meet in the company.

You must have already gone through this coronavirus. I hope to God, of course, you have gone through it. When 60% of people have gone through it, they'll develop immunity and forget about this coronavirus.

If we start to move and introduce a curfew, an even greater psychosis will begin in Belarus, because the people here are quick on the uptake, one wrong step - and the psychosis will cause panic, they will take everything out of the shops. However, there will be enough food, don't worry.

When the demand increased, I said: What are you worried about? There's no need to take milk, no need to take meat anywhere, no need to go to Russia, China has closed for a while. On the counters - let people eat if they want.

Don't forget that we have potatoes. So we won't starve to death, that's for sure. However, we can't wind down the work in industry under any circumstances. I repeat, in a month or two you and we will understand what it means to stop the economy of the world's leading countries.

I remember all these viruses. There was bird flu. It was a wild virus, too. There was uproar. Then there was swine flu. Some kind of atypical pneumonia. They call the coronavirus new because it doesn't look like the old one. That's why Coronavirus will end sooner or later. No one knows if it's tomorrow or the day after. It's not up to us.

Most of all, I shall be honest with you, I am concerned about Russia. You can't close from Russia and we won't close. And they've tried to close. Here's the head of administration, yesterday's KGB general. I say: you look at what is happening at the border with your own methods. He and the Secretary of State have sent groups there. They're travelling as they used to travel. Except that not straight down that road, but they are turning and driving around. And there's no law against it.

Even with the NATO bloc on the Polish border, I've received a report that yesterday 136 people were going back and forth there. With a Pole's Card, the Poles are going back and forth. These traders sell some kind of clothes and they are moving around every day.

Yes, somebody will get the short end of the stick, restaurateurs, hotels, but you can't expect anything from me. I haven't closed restaurants, I haven't closed hotels. Yeah, well, less people are coming. We don't approve that. The tourism industry needs a little support. Now it's the weekend. Where will the Russians go? Of course, they'll come to us. They'll live in hotels, in farm stays.

They'll come with money. We shouldn't close ourselves from them.