Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk registered more than 300,000 cases each of flu-like illness since the epidemic began in late October. Health Ministry officials on Dec. 30 reported the epidemiological threshold for flu-related illness has been surpassed in most Ukrainian oblasts.

Some 3.7 million Ukrainians have suffered from flu and acute viral respiratory illness since November. Some 700 patients have died, and hundreds more are currently in intensive care.

Google flu trends, which illustrates a comparison of Internet searches for flu with actual reported cases, shows a slight decrease in flu activity in recent weeks after the second wave of the illness hit in early mid December. Lawmakers in December allocated an additional $75 million to help deal with the flu epidemic, which triggered panic in late October and forced governments to close down schools and ban public meetings.