Belarusian Health Minister Vasil Zharko has called on people not to panic over the ongoing outbreak of flu, saying that the situation is tough but controllable.

"We record between 12,000 and 15,000 cases of flu and other acute respiratory diseases at health institutions every day, while during a flu epidemic, the numbers reach 30,000, which means that there is a decrease," the minister said in a televised address on Wednesday.