{"id":127999,"date":"2025-02-27T15:02:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T12:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"health-ministry-extravagantly-praises-lukasenka-over-covid-19-handling","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/","title":{"rendered":"Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1026\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439.jpg 1026w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1026px) 100vw, 1026px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Pozirk&#039;s screenshot of the statement)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 27, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> As Belarus marks the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 infection detection, the Belarusian health ministry has praised Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka as a wise leader in a way reminiscent of Josef Stalin\u2019s cult of personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarus managed the pandemic &#8220;in its own way, without lockdowns and restrictions,\u201d its press office stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe world chose to fight the pandemic in the 21st century with full lockdowns, sealing millions of kilometers of borders. Some countries required their citizens not to leave their homes, while anxiety and terror reigned in the world. Only one state leader\u2014our President, our Batka [father], our Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko\u2014was able to resist this global panic!\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As COVID-19 hit Belarus in early 2020, the Belarusian ruler decided against a lockdown despite a lack of vaccines.\u00a0 \u0141uka\u0161enka denied the pandemic in every possible way, suggesting treating the virus with vodka, sauna and hard work in the fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Civil society initiatives raised funds to fight the pandemic and supply protective gear to medical staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The health ministry has withheld data on COVID-19-related deaths since early July 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 27, Pozirk. As Belarus marks the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 infection detection, the Belarusian health ministry has praised Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka as a wise leader in a way reminiscent of Josef Stalin\u2019s cult of personality. Belarus managed the pandemic &#8220;in its own way, without lockdowns and restrictions,\u201d its press office stressed. \u201cThe world [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":127972,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-127999","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 27, Pozirk. As Belarus marks the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 infection detection, the Belarusian health ministry has praised\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 27, Pozirk. As Belarus marks the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 infection detection, the Belarusian health ministry has praised\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1026\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\"},\"headline\":\"Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-27T12:02:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\"},\"wordCount\":193,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/\",\"name\":\"Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0434-\u044e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0439.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-27T12:02:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"February 27, Pozirk. 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As Belarus marks the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 infection detection, the Belarusian health ministry has praised","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127999\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Health ministry extravagantly praises \u0141uka\u0161enka over COVID-19 handling | Pozirk","og_description":"February 27, Pozirk. 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