Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

As of 11 October 77,220 patients previously diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals in Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry.

Belarus has registered 83,534 cases of COVID-19 so far. A total of 2,073,930 tests have been performed in the country.

As many as 896 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died since the infection's outbreak in Belarus.

The Belarusian transport company Minsktrans cancels daily bus service to Riga, BelTA learned from the company's website.

“The Belarusian transport company Minsktrans cancels the international bus service Minsk-Riga en route to Minsk at 22.00 (from 9 October) and to Riga at 22.00 (from 10 October),” the company said.

Minsktrans announces daily bus service Minsk-Vilnius, with departure from Minsk at 22.00 (from 10 to 31 October), and from Vilnius at 2.50 (from 11 October to 1 November).

The Belarusian air carrier Belavia has extended suspension of air travel to Larnaca till 24 October, BelTA learned from the website of the airline.

Belavia will not fly to Riga, Tallinn, and Budapest till 24 October, to all destinations in Georgia till 31 October, and to Ashgabat till 1 November. Flights to Russia's Voronezh, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod have been suspended till 24 October.

Customers who purchased tickets for these travel dates will be able to apply for a refund or to reschedule their flights till 30 March 2021. Tickets can be refunded and flights can be rescheduled at company's offices and customer service centers.

The ministerial consultations to discuss cooperation of the CIS member states in the information sector took place as a video conference with the participation of the plenipotentiary representatives of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the staff of the CIS Executive Committee on 6 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

The participants of the consultations exchanged information on the progress made to ensure information support of the events under Uzbekistan's presidency in the CIS in 2020 and agreed to continue such practice next year under the presidency of Belarus and in connection with the 30th anniversary of the CIS.

The participants of the event considered issues of interaction with new participants of the information space (bloggers, users of social networks), various aspects of information work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the use of social networks to inform compatriots abroad. Participants also discussed the forms and methods of work of ministries of foreign affairs with representatives of national and foreign media.

“Belarus' proposal was supported to hold the next consultations on the interaction of the CIS states in the information sector in Minsk in 2021. It was decided to agree on the date and format of the event as part of working-level discussions,” the press service said.

The Urbany checkpoint is to be commissioned after renovations in November.

This information was aired by the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA informs.

The checkpoint is 93% ready. After the renovation, its capacity will almost quadruple. Now the checkpoint can handle 270 vehicles per day, after reopening it will be able to handle up to 1,000 vehicles.

The Verkhniy Terebezhov checkpoint is also under renovations. It is 70% ready. The checkpoint is planned to be commissioned in the first half of 2021. Now the checkpoint can handle 255 vehicles per day, after renovations it will be able to handle 900 vehicles.

“The head of state asked about efforts to improve infrastructure in other checkpoints. Of course, we are analyzing the situation, the traffic in various regions and highways trying to understand whether large-scale customs infrastructure will be in demand there,” Chairman of the State Customs Committee Yuri Senko said. He stressed that everything should be approached comprehensively, taking into account road repairs.

The chairman of the State Customs Committee underlined that the committee maintains close communication with transportation companies and road haulers in a bid to identify possible bottlenecks in border infrastructure. “We study their feedback and take it on board. Unfortunately, there is a problem of queues at the border. As a rule, these problems have to do with the actions of the neighboring states and are not connected with the work of the Belarusian side,” he added.

Belarus' healthcare system is ready for the second wave of COVID-19, Aleksandr Patseev the head of the main department of healthcare organization at the healthcare Ministry, told reporters in Minsk on 5 October, BelTA has learned.

“Recently, we have seen an increase in the incidence of the disease. Now we can say that this is the second wave. We see a similar picture in other countries of Europe and the world,” Aleksandr Patseev said.

According to him, Belarus' healthcare system is ready for the second wave of COVID-19. "We have tried and tested the entire system, worked outs all algorithms for providing medical assistance. The system has proven to be effective. We have clear separations of patient flows by the severity of the disease. The bed space is enough. The situation with oxygen points has improved considerably over the past few months. The healthcare system as a whole is ready for work,” Aleksandr Patseev noted.

The Belarusian government projects GDP to increase by 1.8% in 2021, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers held on 1 October to discuss the country's draft social and economic development forecast, the monetary policy guidelines and the national budget for 2021, BelTA has learned.

“According to estimates, next year's economic growth is projected at 1.8%, and we plan to keep the current year's GDP at the level of 2019. Many developed countries are planning to reach the pre-crisis level only in 2022,” said Roman Golovchenko.

The government began working on the package of economic documents for 2021 three months ago. According to the prime minister, over the past few weeks there have been significant changes in the assessment of the development of the world economy, Belarus' trade partner countries, prices for marketable goods, exchange rates, which remain high volatile.

Roman Golovchenko said that the key parameters of government efficiency to be set by the head of state should reflect not the process, but the goal, which is to improve the living standards and quality of life. “The task is to work on reducing costs, increasing productivity and other quality indicators,” he explained.

The head of government added that the forecast for 2021 should be as realistic as possible, take into account the resource capacity of the economy, and rely on accurate external and internal conditions.

According to the draft documents, economic efficiency and profit will be among the integrated performance indicators of the vertical power structure. Roman Golovchenko asked the Economy Ministry to voice its position in favor of the chosen approaches, including the proposed new system of indicators.

The vaccination of volunteers with the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V as part of a double blind randomized placebo-controlled study has begun in Belarus, BelTA has learned.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has delivered the first batch of the Russian vaccine to Belarus for clinical trials. The fund finances the clinical trials in Belarus. One hundred people are supposed to take part in the trials. The vaccine was developed by the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after Honorary Academician N.F. Gamaleya of the Russian Healthcare Ministry.

According to Sergei Chernyak, a clinical trials specialist with the Russian company IPHARMA, all the 100 volunteers have already been selected. The trials require relatively healthy men and women aged 18-60. They may have some chronic diseases out of the exacerbation phase. The medics monitor the health of the volunteers after the injection in order to track any reactions.

The volunteer may be free to go one hour after the injection. “Just like with flu vaccination people may experience a slightly higher body temperature or some local hyperthermic reactions,” the specialist added.

The first two volunteers were vaccinated in Minsk city clinic No.28 on 1 October. Andrei Metlitsky will join them within the next few days. The man said he had learned about the trials from mass media and had found all the necessary information on the Healthcare Ministry website. “I want me and people around me to be safe. I always get vaccinated. I don't really get sick. But I would like this infection to miss me and my family,” he said.

The clinic's Head Physician Larisa Kazak stressed that the clinic is compliant with international requirements and is properly certified. Clinical trials of various medications have been performed here for years. “We hope these clinical trials will be a success and the international community will get an effective solution for fighting this dangerous infection,” she added.

Belarus is the first country to begin clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine after it was registered in Russia. The trials will take place in eight healthcare institutions in Belarus, which have been chosen as research centers. Two Belarusian clinics have already received the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine.

MINSK, 30 September (BelTA) - The Belarusian air carrier Belavia will resume flights to Moscow on 30 September, BelTA learned from the press service of the airline.

“In line with the restrictions imposed by the Russian aviation services, flights will be performed once a week (on Wednesdays) to Domodedovo Airport in Moscow,” Belavia said.

Flights will depart at 12.35 from Minsk and at 14.45 from Moscow. Travel time will make up an hour and 20 minutes.

Foreign passengers need to have a medical document confirming the negative result of laboratory testing for COVID-19 by PCR, passed no later than 72 hours before arrival.

Additional information on restrictions is available on the website of the airline in the section “COVID-19. Information for Passengers” - “Information on Entry/Exit Restrictions”.

MINSK, 29 September (BelTA) – The number of Belarusian agricultural enterprises that operate in the red decreases every year, BelTA learned from Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Aleksandr Subbotin during the 30th international agriculture expo Belagro 2020 on 29 September.

The official said that all countries subsidize their farmers to a degree. It is one of the points countries willing to join the World Trade Organization hotly argue about. “We have loss-making enterprises but their number decreases every year,” he noted.

Aleksandr Subbotin stressed the importance of agriculture for the country. “Food security is of key importance. We endeavor to satisfy the domestic demand for food out of our own resources and we've been able to do that so far. I think our export of agricultural products will grow a bit this year,” he noted.

In his words, Belarus is one of the leading European agricultural countries. Belarusian food products are known in more than 100 countries across the globe. Belarusian food enjoys a competitive edge on global markets and boasts excellent quality and outstanding taste. He attributed these accomplishments to the hard work of Belarusian farmers.

Aleksandr Subbotin said that plans have been made to invest in better agricultural technologies and new high-quality products in the next five years. “We can improve our production only via science. In order to be more competitive and more successful, we have to increase the conversion rate of products. We need to sell products with a high added value: cheese instead of milk, sausages instead of meat,” the deputy prime minister pointed out.