Belarusian president says he had coronavirus asymptomatically

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that according to doctors he had recovered from the novel coronavirus after contracting it asymptomatically, the Belarusian news agency BelTA reported.

"Today you are meeting a man who managed to survive the coronavirus on his feet," Lukashenko said during a meeting with the military.

"As I have said earlier, 97 percent of the Belarusians who contract the virus recover without showing any symptoms. Thank heavens I was one of the asymptomatic ones," he said.

The 65-year-old president previously dismissed fears about the pandemic as "psychosis."

Belarus reported 115 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its tally to 67,366, according to the country's health ministry.