With hysteria over the coronavirus on the rise, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has urged his countrymen to keep calm, not to shun traditional medicine, and care less about what is beyond one’s control – as we are all mortal.

Kadyrov, the long-time leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, has offered his take on today’s boiling issue – the coronavirus pandemic – injecting some wisdom of his own into the debate.

Arguing that the fears over the disease that manifests itself with flu-like symptoms have been blown out of proportion, Kadyrov called on the public to come to their senses and stop overthinking the problem.

“People lose sleep because a disease appeared in China: the virus. They are afraid that it comes [to them] and they’ll die. Don’t be in a rush, you’ll die anyway. Don’t try to die before your time,” Kadyrov said, addressing a local government meeting on Saturday.

The Chechen leader noted that while the rapid spread of Covid-19 has been the talk of the town, other diseases like the ordinary flu keep claiming thousands of lives every year.

As with pretty much every other serious illness, “those who are in sound health will overcome it [coronavirus], those who are not, won’t manage to,” Kadyrov said, while recommending that all those anxious about their health work on strengthening their immune system using traditional means.

“Mix lemon with honey and water and drink – then the virus won’t get you. Eat your garlic.”

Chechnya, which has a population of over 1.3 million, has yet to report its first case of the virus, which has infected at least 59 people across Russia, most of them – 25 – in its capital, Moscow. Six of the patients have since recovered, and there have been no deaths from Covid-19 in the country.