Denis Pushilin held a working meeting with the Donetsk Republic’s HEALTHyMOVEMENT Help Service

Today, on April 9, Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin held a working meeting with members of the Healthy Movement Help Service formed on the premises of the Donetsk Republic Public Movement’s Central Executive Committee to help the residents of the Republic during the period of high alert regime due to the danger of spread of the new coronavirus infection.

According to a correspondent of the DPR Official Website, the event was held via videoconferencing. In the course of the meeting, the Head of State studied up on the work of the Help Service and answered questions of topic of interest that activists of the public movement asked.

Chief of the Donetsk Republic PM’s Central Executive Committee Alexey Muratov said that for the period of high alert regime, the Central Executive Committee had rearranged its work across all areas and formed the Healthy Movement Help Service operating since April this year.

“Our goal is to mastermind all efforts and help all residents of the Republic, as well as people who are self-isolating during the period of high alert regime due to the danger of the coronavirus expansion,” Alexey Muratov said.

A call center with telephone number 45045 has been established as part of the Help Service.

“Our call center works twenty four/seven, without breaks and day-offs, in three shifts. 24 volunteers from among the activists of the DRPM and the People’s Patrol every day respond to citizens’ calls. The call center has already received 1856 calls, 244 of them for today alone. People are concerned about a variety of issues, ranging from the rules of movement of the aged to the monitoring of prices for food and medications, availability of protective masks in pharmacies and other matters,” deputy chief of the DRPM’s Central Executive Committee Sergey Kondrykinsky reported.

According to coordinator of the Healthy Movement Help Service Evgenia Korinets, interaction with various ministries and agencies has been organized in the first place.

“At present, we have prioritized price monitoring. The work on frontline areas also continues. For example, 17 thousand masks and 270 liters of disinfectant have been purchased, which will be sent to Yasinovataya tomorrow,” she said.

Among other things, Evgenia Korynets noted the significant assistance provided by the People’s Patrol activists and detailed the development of the Good Neighbours campaign aimed at helping self-isolating citizens.

“As matters currently stand, the situation is under control. Seven cases of the COVID-19  coronavirus infection have been registered and confirmed. About 15 thousand persons are self-isolating at home, about 200 persons are treated at medical institutions. As for those cases that have been identified and confirmed, they are mild, there is no need to resort to artificial lungs ventilation machines, which gives quite reasonable grounds to say, taking into account, of course, the age of the diseased, that they will successfully recover. The situation allows to talk about this with caution.

But, despite the measures that are being taken today, of course, most important is self-discipline and the implementation of those simple, understandable and familiar recommendations from the Health Ministry regarding sanitary and hygienic standards. These days, the major aim and objection is to prevent and make the disease transmission impossible.

The Help Service, which is available on a full-time basis, is taking the necessary measures. The measures introduced so far are quite enough as we need to maintain a certain balance. Economic consequences can be extremely harmful for us and, for example, we consider shutting down enterprises to be inappropriate today. Of course, the epidemiological situation as a whole in the Republic is taken into account. Further on, we will keep monitoring the situation and the measures may be tightened. But all of this depends on us, citizens of the Donetsk People’s Republic, on whether we will have to resort to these measures, or we will manage to get along with the existing restrictions, and they will be enough to prevent the spread of this infection. At the same time, we will preserve the operating enterprises, we will maintain the population’s existing income, and we will not create any prerequisites due to which people could lose their jobs.

I consider the work carried out by the Donetsk Republic Public Movement to be important. This is an absolutely correct undertaking, and it needs to be developed, the necessary points should be identified focused on,” Denis Pushilin summed up the meeting.

The Head of State also answered citizens’ questions of current interest, voiced by Donetsk Republic Public Movement activists from various cities and districts of the country.