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Coronavirus pandemic

Belarus records more than 6,000 coronavirus cases

Almost half of all cases are reported from Minsk

MINSK, April 20. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus infections in Belarus has increased to 6,264, while 51 people died, the national health ministry said Monday.

"As of morning on April 18, 518 new cases were recorded, on the morning of April 19 - 510, while 457 [new infections] were identified over the past 24 hours. Overall, the data available on April 20 shows that 6,264 positive COVID-19 tests were recorded, while 51 patients with some chronic conditions died after testing positive for coronavirus," the ministry said in a statement.

Most cases are reported from Minsk (3,023), the Vitebsk Region (1,504), the Minsk Region (789), the Gomel Region (322), the Mogilev Region (265), the Brest Region (185) and the Grodno Region (176).

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Protective masks production to grow to 7.5 mln per day soon, Putin vows

The healthcare agency also stressed that 92 people are in critical condition and require special medical attention, 514 people who tested positive for COVID-19 recovered and were discharged. Since early February the country has performed 102,556 coronavirus tests. Both state and private laboratories are carrying out tests around the clock.

Belarus has not introduced any lockdown measures, preparations for the Victory Day parade are underway. Schools reopened on April 20. According to Belarusian Health Minister Vladimir Karanik, the peak of the outbreak will fall on late April-early May. On April 11, the World Health Organization recommended that Belarus should prepare for the worst-case scenario in the outbreak.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,414,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 165,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 629,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

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