“We Do Not Submit Statistics Upward, It's Just Coming Down”: The Real Coronavirus Situation In Belarus

Dr Uladzimir Martau estimated the situation.

Since the beginning of this month, the number of people infected with coronavirus has begun to rise sharply in Belarus.

According to the data of the Belarusian Ministry of Health for the past three months, the daily increase in infected people was in the range of just over two thousand people. The same figures were throughout the entire period of the pandemic. According to the Belarusian Ministry of Health, earlier the outbreak was only at the end of October 2021: then almost four thousand new cases were identified. Let us note, it is official statistics.

The former head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation of the Vitebsk Emergency Hospital Uladzimir Martau told Current Time the real coronavirus situation in the country.

Uladzimir Martau has been honest about the COVID-19 situation in Belarus since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2021, his contract of employment was not renewed, and he still cannot find a job.

- Official statistics show that the number of people infected with coronavirus in Belarus has been growing in recent days. Now the figures are about five to seven thousand people a day. Do official statistics differ from the real situation in the country?

– The problem is that these statistics can be declarative and can be directive. We have a directive one, putting it politely: we do not submit statistics upward, it's just coming down, we receive the figures that we have to show.

This is generally speaking. Particularly, it happened that an explosive increase in the number of cases was really noted, this can be seen in clinics, it is clear for people, it makes no sense to hide it, and therefore the number was increased in the same directive way. It has nothing to do with statistics, it has nothing to do with real events - absolutely nothing. Because many acquaintances get sick, snotty, most likely, they have Omicron, they are not tested, and they do not apply for aid, and so on. And those who are ill with SARS, as they think, and suddenly accidentally take a test for other reasons, will find out that they have Omicron. Well, that's how it looks. This is not a statistic, it has nothing to do with reality.

No matter how much we submit [data], I have the brightest episode in my life, which I described and told, when I had seven deaths a day, in a nearby hospital there were seven a day, and on the same day the Ministry of Health reported that we have seven deaths in the country. It is not at all, whatsoever [the figures of the Ministry of Health have nothing to do with real statistics].

And it is not very clear who they are calming down. People? But people do not believe. Probably, they are calming themselves down or calming down the higher authorities.

Can you imagine, health professionals treat it with an understanding, so yes, chiefs are used to lying, very well. And non-medical authorities can take it seriously. There is no sense in throwing dust in our eyes.

- What is happening in clinics and hospitals now?

- There is an opinion that clinics were covered by this wave, polyclinics and emergency departments of hospitals. I can imagine that it is acceptable in intensive care units for now, most likely, there will still be a little tension and there will be such serious work, but the worst thing is the situation in clinics.

But there is also the worst thing: there is no sanitary education. I studied in Soviet times, and our healthcare system is based on preventive care. And this is no such attitude at all.

Secondly, no one explains to sick people how to behave correctly, how to get sick correctly, what to do, when to call an ambulance, when not to call an ambulance - none of those things. The fact that there is no specific treatment shocks me, because no one is concerned about this at all, although people really do not need to run to clinics, except for those who need sick leave. But it is necessary to know the symptoms when it is necessary to apply for aid. The issue of sick leaves could also be resolved, to be honest, in a different way. But no measures are really taken to reduce the wave of coronavirus, this is very surprising. We are not taught this either.

- Do hospitals have everything necessary?

– I don’t know this part at all, because I don’t really bother my colleagues with such questions. The saddest thing is that there are fewer and fewer people in hospitals who are ready to declare problems, who are ready to talk about the fact that something is missing. No one will admit if something is missing. I think it is a very sad story.

- The Ministry of Health allowed not taking a PCR test for coronavirus and making diagnoses without tests. Do you think this is the right approach?

- The solution is sane by itself, and it can have a good positive effect, but there are two points. First: health professionals receive additional payments for their work with Covid contractors. But we do not know if there will be additional payments for work with unrecognized patients. There are no PCR tests, and we can face a situation when an accountant department will say that they can't pay for such a patient more and keep the eyes away from the COVID-19 diagnoses of a consulting physician. This is the first madness we encountered a year ago. It already happened, and it looked very funny.

And the second thing: after all, you understand, PCR, a person says that he fell ill with SARS, the doctor says that it is COVID-19 based on symptoms, and the symptoms are not very characteristic now, there may be only snot and cough. To be honest, we can not verify the fact. And how will they treat it later? The question is about statistics, other consequences, codes for sick leaves and so on. How many days of sick leave will they give? Since there is a difference in sick days between Сovid sick leave and SARS one. I have no idea how this system will work. That is, I have a bad idea that it would work like a dream. I think that there will be a lot of nuances here.

You know, we used many sensible ideas, which were taken from world practices. But a clumsy system cannot work correctly. It's very sad to see all this.

You know, I had some time to think it over. I looked at the work of the system, I saw two waves myself, I heard the third and fourth from colleagues. When the system does not work, people must use their heads. They wear masks if they want, even when they are forbidden, for example, or not recommended, they be vaccinated if they want, even when it is no longer promoted. Dear fellow citizens, inhabitants of the planet Earth, think about yourself and find options in which fewer people get sick and die, this is the main task.