A team of 20 Ukrainian medical doctors arrived in Italy on April 4 to help Italian specialists fight COVID-19 after a decree signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 3.
The Ukrainians will spend 14 days in hospitals of eastern Italian region Marche, helping and sharing the experience with local specialists. Italy is the second-largest European country by the number of reported COVID-19 cases.
Zelensky has approved this humanitarian aid in a bid to assist Italian doctors and equip Ukrainian specialists with skills and knowledge needed to combat COVID-19 when it peaks in Ukraine, which reportedly will happen in mid-April.
Italy will provide the Ukrainian medical workers with accommodation and food, while Ukraine will give them money and personal protective equipment (goggles, gloves, medical masks and protective suits).
Viktor Lyashko, Ukraine’s chief sanitary doctor, said when the Ukrainian doctors return to Ukraine, they will undergo 14 days of quarantine and observation. However, should hospitals require immediate help, the doctors will be sent to work and undergo self-isolation there, Lyashko stated on April 4.
Cari italiani🇮🇹! Noi ucraini🇺🇦 abiamo sempre provato un grande affetto per l’Italia. Ora, quando i nostri cuori sono spezzati e pieni di compassione, inviamo in Italia un team di 20 medici e presto forniremo anche disinfettanti e dispositivi di protezione individuale#siamoconvoi pic.twitter.com/epIMpkF3Dv
— Arsen Avakov (@AvakovArsen) April 4, 2020
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov: Dear Italians! We Ukrainians have always felt great affection for Italy. Now, when our hearts are broken and full of compassion, we send a team of 20 doctors to Italy and soon we will also provide disinfectants and personal protective equipment.
Italy is among the countries most severely hit by the pandemic. As of April 4, COVID-19 has killed over 14,681 people there, more than in any other country.
Italy’s death rate among confirmed COVID-19 cases is 12%; it is 2.6% in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, three Ukrainians died in Italy because of COVID-19. The first official fatality of a Ukrainian in Italy from the coronavirus was reported on March 13. The second and third deaths happened on March 20.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- As of morning April 4: 28 people have died from COVID-19 in Ukraine; 23 people have recovered.
- 5 Ukrainians died from the novel coronavirus abroad; 11 recovered.
- 1,096 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine as of early April 4. The first case was identified on March 3.
- Ukraine has extended its quarantine measures until April 24.
- Infographic of quarantine measures in place until April 24.
- The measures shuttered most everything but hospitals, supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, and other critical enterprises.
- How the Ukrainian government has been responding: TIMELINE
- Misinformation on coronavirus is going viral in Ukraine.
- Foreign Ministry: What you need to know about traveling to and from Ukraine now
- Why the Kyiv Post isn’t making its coverage free in the times of COVID-19.
- Coronavirus stops the Kyiv Post’s print edition for now.
- Where to buy masks.
Effects on the economy:
- COVID-19 is already inflicting harm on Ukraine’s economy.
- Invisible Threat Lurks Undetected: Top stories from March 27, 2020 PDF edition.
- The former minister of economy says half a million Ukrainians may lose their jobs in the COVID-19 crisis.
