Ukraine has registered 3,228 new COVID-19 cases as of 10 a.m. on Sept. 18. In the past 24 hours, 68 people have died, 446 were hospitalized and 1,573 patients have recovered. There are currently 90,518 active cases across the country.
In the past 24 hours, laboratories carried out 31,092 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 25,992 antibody tests.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic stands at 169,472. A total of 75,486 patients have recovered and 3,468 have died.
The highest numbers of new cases were recorded in Kharkiv Oblast (349), Odesa Oblast (322), Ternopil Oblast (311), the city of Kyiv (291), Lviv Oblast (205), and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (175).
Ukraine’s daily COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries from Aug. 1 to Sept. 17, 2020. All data were released by the Ministry of Health.
On Sept. 16, the Health Ministry said that, from now on, a red level of epidemiological risk will be introduced in regions if the number of COVID-19 patients is more than five times higher than the nationwide average or if at least 75% of hospital beds are occupied for five days in a row.
From now on, decisions on introducing the red level will be made jointly by national and regional commissions for technological and environmental safety and emergencies. Previously such decisions were made only by the national authorities.
Since the introduction of the “outbreak zoning” to respond to local outbreaks, local authorities have refused to tighten restrictions in accordance with the zone in some localities, citing the economic burden it would bring to residents. Moreover, city officials of Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Ternopil said they would sue the central government for marking their cities as “red zone.”
The change in epidemiological zone policy on Sept. 16 represents a significant concession to regional authorities.
Current zones
Starting Sept. 14, the following cities were marked as having the orange level of COVID-19 threat: Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Drohobych, Sumy, Kharkiv, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Khmelnytsky, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Irpin, Fastiv, Bersychiv, Korosten, Chornomorsk and a number of administrative districts.
The orange level means the local authorities will have to close hostels (but not hotels), gyms, fitness centers and cultural establishments, cancel planned hospitalizations, ban entertainment venues and restaurants at night and limit mass events to a maximum of 100 people on condition that there is no more than one person per 20 square meters.
The cities of Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyya, Kalush, Ternopil, Chortkiv, Berezhany, Dubno, Kaniv, Nizhyn and other administrative districts remain in the red zone, which means the closure of public transport, restaurants, cafes, shopping malls, schools and universities.
Ukraine’s daily new COVID-19 cases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way of diagnosing the novel coronavirus, between Aug. 1 and Sept. 17, 2020
