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Minister explains why Belarus changed COVID-19 response strategy

Belarus' Healthcare Minister Dmitry Pinevich told the STV TV channel why it was necessary to change approaches to coronavirus treatment and testing, BelTA informs. 

The Healthcare Ministry has published new approaches to the treatment and testing of coronavirus patients. According to the minister, it was prompted by a number of reasons. 

“Pay attention that the Wuhan variant differs from the delta variant, while the delta variant differs from the omicron variant. For example, the omicron variant is associated with a fairly large number of cases with much less pathogenicity. Therefore, the response is completely different when it comes to testing, hospitalizations and the need for pathogenetic therapy. That is it. We see our agility as an advantage,” Dmitry Pinevich stressed. 

The healthcare minister confirmed the rise in omicron cases among children. Yet, according to experts, the situation is not critical, since the disease is generally mild. 

“Quite a lot of children and adults have mild symptoms. The number of cases is not bigger than in the pre-pandemic time, when we got sick with seasonal viral infections and influenza. It's just that we are now entering the peak of seasonal infections, similar to what we had once a year 5-7 years ago. Likewise, the flu epidemic emerged every three years bringing a large number of cases, that is all,” Dmitry Pinevich said.

Written by belta.by