我就是不服你们这些不看数据,闭着眼睛乱说话的,一月19日武汉确诊几例?现在的白俄罗斯超过2万2了,这是政府组织的吧?
2 hr 30 min ago
Thousands gather for military parade in Belarusian capital, as leader brushes off coronavirus concerns
From CNN’s Mary Ilyushina in Moscow
Thousands of people gathered in Minsk on Saturday to attend a Victory Day military parade, despite increasing numbers of coronavirus cases in Belarus.
Unlike other former Soviet states, Belarus did not cancel mass events to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and has not imposed strict self-isolation rules.
Belarusian servicemen march for the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, as a crowd watches on with no social distancing measures in place. Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images
Belarus has been criticized for inaction,
continuing to hold football matches in the initial weeks of its outbreak, as other countries around the world stopped spectator sports and brought their economies to a halt.
For Victory Day celebrations. Minsk has set up seating up to 11,000 people, and 3,000 servicemen are also taking part in the parade, according to state-run Belarusian news agency Belta. Few people were seen wearing masks on the live-feed from the parade, aired by Belarusian TV stations.
President Alexander Lukashenko’s decision to hold the parade amid the pandemic was met with criticism both abroad and at home, with
over 13,000 people signing a petition to cancel the parade and use the funds to buy ventilators for hospitals.
Belarus' servicewomen take part in a military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Minsk on Saturday Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images
Lukashenko, who has publicly dismissed other countries’ coronavirus measures as “psychosis” and declared “it’s better to die standing than to live on your knees," addressed the criticism during the ceremony on Saturday.
"We just couldn't have done it differently, we had no other choice, and even if we had, we would have done the same thing,” Lukashenko added.
Images of the celebrations showed a large number of spectators seated close together with very few wearing face masks, as servicemen and woman marched together in groups.
As of Saturday, Belarus, a country of 9.5 million, has officially reported
21,101 cases of coronavirus and more than 120 deaths, Johns Hopkins University figures show.