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Selasa, 31 Maret 2020

Belarus' president dismisses coronavirus risk, encourages citizens to drink vodka and visit saunas - CNBC

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talks during a Russian-Belarusian talks on February 15, 2019 in Sochi, Russia.

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images

As countries around the world effectively shut down to tackle the spread of the coronavirus, the authoritarian president of Belarus is urging citizens to drink vodka, go to saunas and return to work.

A global health crisis has prompted governments worldwide to impose draconian measures on the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people.

The restrictions range from so-called lockdowns and school closures to strict regulations on social distancing and public gatherings.

Yet in the Eastern European country of Belarus, borders remain open, and President Alexander Lukashenko remains unmoved by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lukashenko has refused to implement a lockdown in the country of roughly 9.5 million people, reportedly suggesting that others have done so as an act of "frenzy and psychosis," according to Sky News.

As of Tuesday, more than 801,000 cases of the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide, with 38,743 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In Belarus — a country that borders Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine — 152 people have contracted COVID-19 infections, with no deaths.

'A complete outlier'

In an interview published Sunday in The Times newspaper in London, Lukashenko encouraged citizens to drink vodka (unless working) and visit the sauna at least twice a week to stay healthy.

The World Health Organization has warned that drinking alcohol does not prevent people from contracting COVID-19, adding it should always be consumed in moderation.

"Belarus is definitely a complete outlier," Matthias Karabaczek, Europe analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC via telephone on Tuesday.

Karabaczek said Lukashenko was taking a big risk by "refusing to accept the new reality of the coronavirus pandemic," warning that the economic impact of the health crisis was already "looking pretty grim for a relatively poor country."

He suggested the Belarusian president, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, was attempting to portray himself as a "strongman" leader ahead of presidential elections in August.

Sports leagues in the country have carried on as normal, with the 65-year-old Lukashenko himself taking part in an ice hockey match on Sunday.

Karabaczek said Lukashenko's participation in the game was an attempt to show the public that they were "all in this together," pointing out that Russian President Vladimir Putin has also previously taken part in ice hockey exhibition matches.

Belarus isn't the only country avoiding lockdowns. Sweden is allowing its citizens to adopt voluntary, softer measures to delay the spread of the virus. It has had 4,435 cases and 180 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data on Tuesday.

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2020-03-31 14:59:47Z
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Royal no more: Harry and Meghan start uncertain new chapter - The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers?

The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence and swap the U.K. for North America becomes official on March 31.

The move has been made more complicated and poignant by the global coronavirus pandemic, which finds the couple and their 10-month-old son Archie in California, far from Harry’s father Prince Charles — who is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 — and Harry’s 93-year-old grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

“As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile,” the couple said in a final post Monday on their now-mothballed SussexRoyal Instagram account.

Belarus' president dismisses coronavirus risk, encourages citizens to drink vodka and visit saunas - CNBC

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talks during a Russian-Belarusian talks on February 15, 2019 in Sochi, Russia.

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images

As countries around the world effectively shut down to tackle the spread of the coronavirus, the authoritarian president of Belarus is urging citizens to drink vodka, go to saunas and return to work.

A global health crisis has prompted governments worldwide to impose draconian measures on the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people.

The restrictions range from so-called lockdowns and school closures to strict regulations on social distancing and public gatherings.

Yet, in the Eastern European country of Belarus, borders remain open and President Alexander Lukashenko remains unmoved by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lukashenko has refused to implement a lockdown in the country of roughly 9.5 million people, reportedly suggesting that others have done so as an act of "frenzy and psychosis," according to Sky News.

As of Tuesday, more than 801,000 cases of the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide, with 38,743 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In Belarus — a country that borders Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine — 152 people have contracted COVID-19 infections, with no deaths.

'A complete outlier'

In an interview published Sunday in The Times newspaper in London, Lukashenko encouraged citizens to drink vodka (unless working) and visit the sauna at least twice a week to stay healthy.

The World Health Organization has warned that drinking alcohol does not prevent people from contracting COVID-19, adding it should always be consumed in moderation.

"Belarus is definitely a complete outlier," Matthias Karabaczek, Europe analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC via telephone on Tuesday.

He suggested the Belarusian president, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, was attempting to portray himself as a "strongman" leader ahead of presidential elections in August.

Sports leagues in the country have carried on as normal, with the 65-year-old Lukashenko himself taking part in an ice hockey match on Sunday.

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U.S. coronavirus death toll passes 3,000 as Spain and Italy honor their dead - NBC News

With more than 3,000 killed by the coronavirus in the U.S., according to numbers released Tuesday, the U.S. death toll is approaching China's where the pandemic broke out.

Spain, meanwhile, saw a massive surge of 9,222 new confirmed cases and 849 deaths in a single day, its Health Ministry announced, bringing total cases to 94,417 and deaths to 8,189.

Spain as well as Italy held a moment of silence to honor their dead at 12 p.m. (6 a.m. ET). The two countries account for more than half of the deaths globally.

On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned the situation in his state is a sign of things to come if other parts of the country don't act fast.

"There's nothing unique about New Yorkers' immune system. There is no American who is immune from this virus," he told Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC's The Last Word. "New York is just the test case for this. We're the canary in the coal mine"

A healthcare worker sits on a bench near Central park in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Monday.Jeenah Moon / Reuters

The number of people confirmed to be infected with the virus in the U.S. reached 163,838 as of 2:30 am ET, according to NBC News' tracker — the highest number for a single country in the world. More than a third of cases are in New York State.

Also on Monday, President Donald Trump said at a press conference that support was being rolled out across the country, including the construction of a 2,900-bed hospital in New York and thousands of more beds and equipment being distributed by the U.S. Navy and Army Corps of Engineers.

"It's been really pretty amazing what they've done," he said.

"I think we're going to be in very good shape," he added about preparations for the country to manage the growing rate of infections.

Trump also approved disaster declarations for the states of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania on Monday.

In China, the rate of deaths has slowed with only one more reported from Monday, bringing the total to 3,187. As the country eases restrictions following the slowdown of the spread of the virus, factories have reopened, allowing for China's manufacturing industry to rebound this month.

But the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing cautioned that the world's second-largest economy still faces challenges in rebuilding supply chains while authorities try to prevent a spike in infections as employees return to work.

The World Health Organization has also warned the pandemic is "far from over" in Asia.

"This going to be a long-term battle and we cannot let down our guard," said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the western pacific region, during a press conference in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday.

"We need every country to keep responding according to their local situation," he said.

Japan's Foreign Minister announced Tuesday that it would ban its citizens from travelling to 73 countries including the United States, China, South Korea and most of Europe to prevent the spread of the virus. It would also ban entry to people coming from those countries.

France hit a grim milestone with its highest jump in death toll for a single day on Monday with 418 new deaths reported. It brought the country's total to 3,024. The country’s Director General of Health Jerome Salomon said more than 5,000 patients are in critical condition in intensive care.

In Italy, flags flew at half-staff around the nation.

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza said the nationwide lockdown due to end this Friday will likely be extended until Easter, after having met with a scientific committee advising the government on how to contain the virus.

Even after the lockdown is lifted, strict measures on businesses to keep people at a safe distance from one another will likely continue and some businesses like gyms and beauty parlors may remain closed longer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Linda Givetash

Linda Givetash is a London-based producer for NBC News.

Lidia Sirna and Nancy Ing contributed.

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2020-03-31 11:53:58Z
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Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban is ruling by decree indefinitely amid coronavirus - CNBC

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (C) votes with other representatives about the government's bill on the protection against the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the plenary session of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary on March 30, 2020.

ZOLTAN MATHE

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been granted the right to rule by decree for an indefinite period of time, and these new sweeping powers are raising concerns in Europe.

The Hungarian parliament approved a bill Monday that allows Orban to rule the country by decree, meaning that he does not need to consult with other lawmakers to make decisions. The legislation, which came into force Tuesday, has been justified as an emergency response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the bill criminalizes any attempts to stop the Hungarian government fighting the outbreak, including the spreading of false information, which could be punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years.

"The Hungarian government's primary concern during the coronavirus pandemic is the protection of human lives," a spokesperson for the Hungarian government told CNBC via email Tuesday.

However, the bill has sparked criticism elsewhere in Europe.

"Covid-19 requires adequate responses. But they must not endanger rule of law, disempower democratic institutions or put fundamental rights at risk. We need to overcome this together, not rule through decrees," Michael Roth, Germany's minister for European affairs, said Monday.

Orban has been in the spotlight over recent years for his government's increasing oversight of the judiciary, media and foreign universities.

The enabling act … shows that PM Orban is using every opportunity to gain excessive, unchecked power and to rule by decree.

David Vig

Director at Amnesty International in Hungary

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, opened proceedings against Hungary in 2018 for threatening the region's democratic values. However, the process has stalled, with the European Commission seeking an agreement with Budapest, rather than imposing fines or other sanctions on the country.

The European Commission was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC Tuesday.

Orban is "using the pandemic as an excuse to cement his power," Lydia Gall, eastern Europe and Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CNBC Tuesday over the phone. "It is a pretext for the government…to do whatever they want."

A worker disinfects the area in an underpass in Budapest early morning on March 31, 2020, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

GERGELY BESENYEI

The emergency bill also allows Orban to prevent public demonstrations and mitigate criticism by political opponents and the media. He will be the one to decide when the current emergency state is over.

"The enabling act … shows that PM Orban is using every opportunity to gain excessive, unchecked power and to rule by decree," David Vig, director at Amnesty International in Hungary, told CNBC Tuesday. He said that subsequent decrees should be watched for potential human rights violations.

The spokesperson for the Hungarian government added: "False claims of a power grab in Hungary are just that. Such insinuations are not only incorrect but defamatory, and impede the government's efforts in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus."

Duration a 'more concerning issue'

Orban has been Hungary's prime minister since 2010. His party was suspended from the conservative political group in the European Parliament, the EU's only elected chamber, about a year ago, for concerns over his actions against an independent judiciary and the media.

Technically, Hungary's new law could be withdrawn by parliament and the Constitutional Court also has the power to assess the government's decrees. However, Orban's political party has two thirds of the chamber and the Court has many members loyal to the government.

"These institutions do not serve as credible checks on the government's actions," Andrius Tursa, central and eastern Europe advisor at the research firm Teneo, said in a note Monday.

He added that "the duration of the state of emergency, during which the executive holds special powers, is a more concerning issue," and that "Orban could keep the state of emergency in place for much longer than needed to handle the Covid-19 outbreak."

Hungary has reported 492 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15 deaths as of Monday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The figures are much lower than those from the worst-hit countries in Europe, namely Italy, Spain and France.

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2020-03-31 11:24:46Z
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Post-Soviet strongmen prescribe vodka, hockey and folk medicine against coronavirus - CNN

Take, for instance, Belarus, a small country sandwiched between Russia and European Union member Poland: President Alexander Lukashenko has shrugged off concerns about Covid-19, telling his people that hockey, vodka, and banya -- a traditional sauna -- are the best cures.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million people for more than a quarter of a century, has imposed few restrictions to prevent coronavirus from spreading further.

Restaurants, parks and bars remain open. Mass sporting events go on as scheduled and attract hundreds of spectators, in defiance of the World Health Organization's social distancing recommendations. The Belarussian Premier League is now the only soccer competition on the continent.

And Lukashenko himself hasn't limited public appearances, opting to play in a hockey match on Saturday.

Football is shut down across Europe due to the coronavirus, but in Belarus it's business as usual

"It's better to die standing than to live on your knees," he said, rinkside in full hockey gear, in an interview with state television. "This is a fridge, this is healthy, there is nothing better than sport, especially ice which is the real anti-viral medicine."

Belarus has officially reported 94 cases of coronavirus -- and no deaths -- but Lukashenko's critics have cast doubt on those statistics, warning that authorities there could be downplaying the numbers as the country gears up for a presidential election later this year.

Lukashenko has made his own recommendations to combat the virus, suggesting that Belarusians should drink vodka to "poison the virus," or attend a banya.

"I once mentioned that people need to go to banya to fight different viruses, this one included, since Covid-19 doesn't like high temperatures and dies at +60 C, as the experts informed me," Lukashenko said, adding that if you don't have hand sanitizer, drink vodka.

"When you get out of sauna you shouldn't just wash your hands — down a shot of vodka," he said. "I don't drink myself, and I don't advocate for it, but I'll be okay with, it's tolerable at least until Victory Day on May 9."

There is no clear evidence to indicate that the coronavirus can be controlled by high temperatures, experts say.

Business as usual

Belarus has yet to close its borders -- its response so far has been limited to a two-week quarantine order for all those arriving in the country. But all of its neighbors — Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia -- have shut theirs.

Work hasn't stopped either, as Lukashenko is concerned at how the coronavirus response is hurting the global economy. He says he found inspiration in US President Donald Trump's suggestion that the cure for Covid-19 should not be worse than the virus itself.

"I liked his recent statements very much," Lukashenko said of Trump, during a visit to a plaster plant last week, according to an official transcript. "He said, 'If we do not immediately return to enterprises and start working, then much more Americans will die from unemployment than from coronavirus.' Now you understand why I didn't close the factories."

In post-Soviet Central Asia, some local strongmen have also taken the path of coronavirus denial.

In Tajikistan, a remote nation bordering Afghanistan, President Emomali Rahmon has continued a schedule of public appearances and plans to convene parliament in mid-April.

'Better to die standing than to live on your knees,' says Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko at ice hockey match

Last week, Rahmon -- who is referred to in government news releases as the "Founder of Peace and National Unity and Leader of the Nation" — paid visits to cities taking part in a nationwide beautification project, the Republic Flower Contest, and handed out gifts to orphans.

"This humane initiative of the Head of State caused great joy," the government news release stated.

Rahmon also went ahead with massive celebrations for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, taking part in festivities at the central stadium in the city of Khujand on March 22. The government news release featured crowds of spectators in national dress watching a colorful, choreographed spectacle and a speech by the leader.

Iran, by contrast, curtailed Persian New Year celebration plans, banning non-essential travel and closing shops, in the wake of a large Covid-19 outbreak.

That's not to say that Tajikistan takes coronavirus completely lightly. Tajikistan has no officially recorded cases of coronavirus, but it closed to international flights on March 19 -- cutting off an economic lifeline for a country that is heavily dependent on remittances from migrant labor. And Rahmon most recently conferred with the president of neighboring Kyrgyzstan on measures to contain the virus.

Turkmenistan, another former Soviet republic, has taken a decidedly different approach. The isolated republic is ruled by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has built a formidable personality cult and has promoted folk medicine in his writings, which are mandatory reading for public officials.

How Russia is using authoritarian tech to curb coronavirus

A March 13 readout of a cabinet meeting made no mention of the novel coronavirus or Covid-19, but did include a lengthy discourse on the benefits of burning yuzarlik (Peganum harmala), a folk remedy, to prevent infectious diseases.

"The first volume of the head of state's book, Medicinal Plants of Turkmenistan, describes methods for the preparation and use of harmala concoctions," the readout states. "Our ancestors kept it in houses in the form of bundles of their branches. At times, people fumigated their home with them. They thus carried out the prevention of infectious diseases."

As other world leaders grapple with how to handle the coronavirus pandemic -- in some cases from within self-isolation — Berdymukhamedov continues to devote time to of his primary passions: Horseback riding. On Sunday, Turkmenistan's state news agency reported that the president spent the day at the Akhal-Teke equestrian complex, where he went riding and started work on a new book.

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2020-03-31 10:54:54Z
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Belarusian leader bucks coronavirus 'psychosis,' plays hockey - NBC News

MOSCOW — While officials from Montreal to Moscow have placed populations under some form of lockdown designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, one man continues to hold firm to the notion that the rest of the world has lost its mind: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees!” Lukashenko told a Belarusian television reporter Saturday when asked whether or not the coronavirus could stop him from hitting the rink for a propaganda-filled hockey game.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko plays in a hockey game in Minsk on Saturday.Andrey Pokumeiko / BelTA / via Reuters

“Me? Why? I don’t understand. There is no virus here,” Lukashenko said, gesturing around the arena. “This is a refrigerator, it is the best thing for your health. Sport, especially on ice, is better than any antiviral medication, it is the real thing.”

Lukashenko, one of the longest-serving leaders in the former Soviet Union, has been in power for over 25 years. His tenure has seen brutal crackdowns on dissent.

Both Lukashenko and his nation, Belarus, have played second fiddle to their much larger, and much more powerful neighbor: Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The two nations have a loosely controlled internal border and shared customs space — undermining his claims to sovereignty.

Lukashenko for weeks now has downplayed the threat of COVID-19. Instead of preparing his nation for the worst, he has routinely and openly questioned the world’s response to the virus, using the word “psychosis” to describe the global response several times since early March.

Meanwhile, he has made a point of keeping factories, stores, cultural and sporting events open. The Belarusian Health Ministry has reported just 152 cases of the coronavirus. Neighboring Russia reported 1,836 as of Monday.

Two weeks ago, he insisted that Belarus has survived worse than the novel pandemic hitting the world. Saunas, vodka and tending to the fields were the best remedy for those who fear the spread of the virus, he said.

“The tractor will heal everyone,” he said, “the fields heal everyone.”

March 30, 202000:50

Lukashenko’s folk remedies for COVID-19 fall well in line with assurances issued by other post-Soviet leaders. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president of Turkmenistan, consulted his own writings on his nation’s plant life and declared a cure to be found in a local herb.

In his own way, Russian President Putin has also downplayed the threat of the virus — insisting for weeks that the situation was well under control. But Putin began an about-face last week in a national address asking Russians to stay home.

Lukashenko seems to have been unfazed by Putin’s admission that the situation is more serious than it first appeared.

“This psychosis has crippled national economies almost everywhere in the world,” Lukashenko said while touring a factory Friday. “Even the Russian Federation that is similar to us has started closing businesses.”

Matthew Bodner

Matthew Bodner is a Moscow-based producer and reporter for NBC News.

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2020-03-31 09:09:07Z
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