President Igor Dodon made a call to the people through the public TV channel Moldova 1 in connection with the measures taken to combat the spread of COVID-19. “We must be sincere and very realistic – the Republic of Moldova is more vulnerable economically and socially than these countries. That’s why we must be precautious and more firm in decisions and actions,” said President Dodon.
He noted it is crucial to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus so as not to block the healthcare system and overload doctors. “We should not allow panic to control our instincts and should not crowd in stores. We should not hamper the doctors in their work, should not thwart authorities’ efforts, should not be mean with each other, should not spread fake and alarming news as all these things can infect us as a nation worse that the coronavirus pandemic,” stated the official.
Igor Dodon said the taken measures probably limited particular rights, but they turned out to be correct and necessary in the fight against the infection as they helped delay the apogee of the crisis. The Government of the Republic of Moldova sought help from the foreign partners and received or is to receive assistance from Romania, Russia, China and the U.S.
“The appearance of local transmission cases shows that we are entering a new, emergency stage that obliges the Government to take new measures to stop the spread of infection from locally infected persons,” said President Dodon.
He warned the business entities not to raise prices of drugs, foods and bare essentials and requested the banks to consider possibilities of enabling the customers to pay interest on loans with delay or to provide concessions that would help the people to cope with negative financial effects generated by this situation.
President Dodon urged the teachers and functionaries to do their job, taking all the measures to prevent the spread of the virus, but to also find solutions to work online and to reduce the damage caused by the possibly extended limitation of the ordinary activity. He asked the police and customs officers to ensure the quarantine regime, to attentively monitor the persons who return from abroad and to penalize those who break the law.
The official addressed the Moldovans abroad, saying they are safer there where they are than they can be if they set off home and remain blocked in different custom posts.
Igor Dodon called on the political class to leave the political struggle aside and to look for the most constructive approaches.
He also urged to protect the elderly people, who can be more vulnerable to this virus, and to help them overcome the crisis.
“A very important, critical period follows, when we are ready to maximally intervene to protect the population’s health. I call upon you to trust the authorities and follow exactly their recommendations,” said Igor Dodon, assuring the people that the taken measures will be communicated and explained in detail so as to prevent the spread of the virus and to avoid panic.
