You're reading: COVID-19 in Ukraine: 10,155 new cases, 172 new deaths, 12,481 total vaccinations

Ukraine has registered 10,155 new cases of COVID-19 as of 9 a.m. on March 5, bringing the total number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to nearly 1.4 million.

In the past 24 hours, 4,149 COVID-19 patients have recovered and 172 have died. Over 1.18 million people have recovered from COVID-19 and 26,763 have died since the pandemic hit Ukraine.

On March 5, 3,355 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19. Three days prior, Ukraine has recorded a record number of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic – 3,486.

Ukrainian laboratories have carried out 40,393 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, 16,127 antibody tests and 27,236 rapid antigen tests in the past day. Over 7 million PCR tests have been conducted in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic.

The largest numbers of new cases have been recorded in Kyiv (910), Vinnytsya Oblast (816), Zakarpattia Oblast (748), Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (737) and Zhytomyr Oblast (695).

Vaccination in Ukraine began on Feb. 27 and by March 4, a total of 12,481 people have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute.

Ukraine’s daily new COVID-19 cases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way of diagnosing the novel coronavirus, between Jan. 23, 2020 and March 4, 2021. All data was released by the Ministry of Health. (Kyiv Post)

In the past 24 hours, the largest number of vaccinations was recorded in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (280) and Donetsk Oblast (270). President Volodymyr Zelensky received his first dose of vaccine in Donetsk Oblast during his trip to the front line.

To date, Ukraine has received 500,000 doses of vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute. Ukraine has ordered a total of 17 million doses from India, including vaccines developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical AstraZeneca and U.S. biotech firm Novavax. Altogether, Ukraine expects to receive around 22 million doses in 2021.

Ukraine’s daily COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries from Jan. 10, 2021 to March 4, 2021. All data was released by the Ministry of Health. (Kyiv Post)

On March 1, the Health Ministry started accepting online and telephone applications from Ukrainians who want to be put on the waiting list for the vaccine.

On Jan. 25, Ukraine reopened after the lockdown that has been in place since Jan. 8. The work of all non-essential businesses has now resumed.

According to a law passed by the government on Jan. 13, businesses have to refuse to service any customer who’s not wearing a mask and call the police if the person refuses to put it on. A mask has to cover both the nose and mouth.

Starting Feb. 24, the country returned to a so-called “adaptive quarantine” where each oblast is assigned one of four epidemiological levels, depending on the COVID-19 situation there. There are green, yellow, orange and red levels. A red status means that a lockdown will be imposed locally.

Initially, all of Ukraine was designated yellow, meaning most of the current restrictions will stay in force.

Three Ukrainian oblasts, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia, had to shut down their entertainment businesses and restaurants for a week starting Feb. 22 because of spikes in their numbers of cases, Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said on Feb. 19.

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast has also imposed the “red” quarantine level, shutting down all non-essential businesses and banning mass events on Feb. 22-28.

On March 4, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has entered the third wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The prime minister didn’t rule out the possibility of a future nationwide lockdown.

“It’s obvious that the third wave of the pandemic has started. Strict restrictions in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi oblasts have already been introduced,” Shmyhal said during his press conference.

“A few more regions are on the way (to new restrictions),” he added.