Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

The 86th Communications Brigade held a draw for the Steady Signal competition of the International Army Games 2022, BelTA learned from the Defense Ministry of Belarus.

Major-General Oleg Mishchenko, the Chief of Communications of the Armed Forces - Head of the Signal Office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, addressed the visiting teams on 8 August."Welcome to the Republic of Belarus," he said. “During the competition, we will show you the Belarusian land, traditions, our museums and military units. This year we tried to make the competition more exciting. For the first time the event will involve a female division. The number of participating countries has grown to 12. We are in for a speculator and fierce competition."

The competition will officially kick off in Brest on Sunday, 14 August.

The Healthcare Ministry has decided to expand the vaccination coverage and include children ages five years and older into the COVID-19 vaccination program, Belarusian Deputy Healthcare Minister, Chief Sanitary Inspector Aleksandr Tarasenko said, BelTA has learned.

“We have amended our vaccination strategy to cover more age groups. Earlier we vaccinated children ages 12 years and older, however starting from this week we will vaccinate children who are at least five years old. They will be offered China's Vero Cell. The same vaccine is administered to pregnant women. In China this vaccine is used to vaccinate children ages three years and older, we have so far allowed it from the age of five,” said Aleksandr Tarasenko.

The rest of the population gets the shot of Sputnik V or Sputnik Light vaccines depending on their availability in the regions. “The Healthcare Ministry is now focused on revaccination. The initial vaccination coverage is 70%. Some 27% of people who completed their initial vaccination regimen have already got a booster shot. We recommend receiving a booster jab in August-September before the seasonal rise in the disease rate,” the deputy healthcare minister said.

The increase in COVID-19 cases in Belarus is expected in September. According to experts, such a likelihood is rather high. “Taking into account the immune status of the population we expect the new wave to be not as intense as the previous ones. We hope that the infection will proceed mainly in a mild form and patients will not need hospitalization. At the moment, the dominant strain in Belarus, just like in the neighboring countries, is omicron (90%) BA.4 and BA.5 lineages. The other 10% are stealth omicron cases,” Aleksandr Tarasenko informed.

Belarus is considering easing residence permit rules for citizens of the Baltic states and Poland, BelTA learned from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.

More than 164,000 people have visited Belarus as part of the visa-waiver program for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland that was launched in April. The ministry noted an increase in the number of permanent residence permit applications, especially from the foreigners with Belarusian roots. These are people who used to have Belarusian citizenship, who have grounds for its acquisition by registration, are Belarusians or identify themselves with them, or are their descendants.

The ministry noted that the Belarusian legislation envisages a possibility of granting a permit for permanent residence to this category of foreigners. Currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is working on easing residence permit rules for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland who have Belarusian roots. This includes reducing the length of this administrative procedure to one month.

This will create more favorable conditions for the entry, long-term stay and integration of citizens of these countries in Belarus.

Written by belta.by

Four children's rooms for Ukrainian migrant families have opened in Gomel Oblast, BelTA learned from the head of the management and personnel department of the Gomel Oblast branch of the Belarus Red Cross Artyom Karpenko.

The children's rooms are now available in Novobelitsky District of Gomel, in Mozyr, Kalinkovichi and Rechitsa. The goal of this project is to facilitate adaptation of families with children who were forced to leave their homes and their country.

“In such rooms, children will be able to attend interactive classes, watch educational videos, play games, there will be coloring books and much more. There will also be art classes every week and other educational activities. A children's psychologist will also come,” the Belarus Red Cross branch informed.

The Gomel Oblast branch of the Belarus Red Cross started helping people from Ukraine from the very first days. Volunteers were on duty at the border around the clock to provide help to all who needed it.

Written by minsk-region.gov.by

Over 158,000 foreign nationals have visited Belarus without visas, BelTA learned from the State Border Committee of Belarus.

As of 00:00 on 1 August, 158,509 citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland took advantage of Belarus' visa waiver program. “Since 15 April when Belarus reopened border for visa waiver arrivals, 102,577 citizens of Lithuania, 12,728 non-citizens and 40,980 citizens of Latvia have visited Belarus. Since 1 July, when a visa waiver program for Poland was launched, Belarus has hosted 2,224 visitors from Poland, the State Border committee informed.

For more information on visa-free visits to Belarus, please visit the website of the State Border Committee of Belarus and the Belarus Border app.

Written by minsk-region.gov.by

Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova has hosted a meeting with healthcare professionals from Minsk, BelTA learned from the press service of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament.

Taking part in the meeting were employees of the emergency medical services, hospitals, including infectious diseases hospitals, and outpatient clinics.

The parties discussed a broad range of issues. Top on the agenda was a possible spike of the coronavirus infection that may coincide with a seasonal increase in respiratory diseases in the autumn and winter and the healthcare sector's readiness to deliver emergency medical care and routine services. The specialists also discussed the work of outpatient and inpatient clinics, vaccination, including the delivery of booster vaccines.

Other important matters on the agenda were the preparedness of healthcare facilities to administer regular health checks, the operation of medical equipment, the supply of medicines and consumables. The experts also discussed personnel issues - from staffing to the ideological aspect. In this context, it was noted that in August healthcare workers will start getting bonuses initiated by the head of state.

According to experts, medical facilities are operating routinely, the number of ambulance calls is small. Everything is in place for a stable and uninterrupted operation of the healthcare sector.

Written by belta.by

Belarusian Soligorsk and Berezniki of Russia's Perm Territory have become twin cities, BelTA learned from the press center of Belaruskali.

The signing ceremony, which took place on 28 July, was attended by Chairman of the Soligorsk District Executive Committee Andrei Zhailovich and head of the Berezniki administration Konstantin Svetlakov.

Konstantin Svetlakov noted that Belarus is closer than ever to Perm Territory. "Our peoples have always been sister nations. I am glad that now Berezniki and Soligorsk have become twin cities. I am sure we will implement a lot of fruitful joint projects in different sectors: culture, economy, and tourism. Besides, Berezniki and Soligorsk are the centers of potassium industry and our industrial enterprises are our backbone", Konstantin Svetlakov said.

Written by minsk-region.gov.by

A Cuban vaccine against COVID-19 has been registered in Belarus, BelTA informs citing the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service.

“As a result of long-term collaboration between the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service and the Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED), the COVID-19 vaccine SOBERANA PLUS produced by the Finlay Institute of Vaccines has been registered in Belarus,” reads the press release on the website of the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service.

Thus, SOBERANA PLUS became Cuba's first COVID-19 vaccine registered in Europe.

A delegation of the healthcare sector and the pharmaceutical industry of Cuba is visiting Belarus from 24 to 28 July. At one of the meetings the Cuban delegation and their Belarusian counterparts discussed the best practices in the field of vaccines. Rector of Gomel State Medical University Igor Stoma made a presentation on the topic “Comparative immunogenicity and COVID-19 vaccination safety in the Republic of Belarus” and spoke about the practical aspects of vaccine administration in Belarus.

Director of the Finlay Institute of Vaccines Vicente Vérez Bencomo presented a report on the effectiveness of the vaccines produced in Cuba. He expressed readiness to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Belarus free of charge. Director of the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service Dmitry Grinko and Rector of Gomel State Medical University Igor Stoma presented a comprehensive national educational and practical manual General Vaccinology.

In addition, the Center for Examinations and Tests in Health Service and CECMED signed an agreement on conducting interlaboratory comparisons.

Written by minsk-region.gov.by

The Belarusian air carrier Belavia is set to launch daily flights to Moscow's Vnukovo on 8 August, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian airline.

Currently, the flights to Vnukovo and back are operated on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Starting from 8 August flights on Mondays and Saturdays will depart from Minsk at 7.00 and arrive at Vnukovo at 8.25. Flights will leave Vnukovo at 9.10 and arrive in Minsk at 10.35.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays flights will leave the Belarusian capital at 19.25 and arrive in Moscow at 20.50, and will leave Vnukovo at 21.40 and arrive in Minsk at 23.05.

Written by minsk-region.gov.by

169 Ukrainian nationals arrived in Belarus over the past 24 hours, BelTA learned from the State Border Committee.

Citizens of Ukraine continue to arrive in Belarus via the EU countries. Over the past 24 hours, Belarus admitted 169 Ukrainian nationals. 129 of them came through the Belarusian-Polish border. Another 34 arrived in Belarus from Lithuania and six from Latvia.

Written by belta.by