Quarantine measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 will likely be extended until May, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
“Most likely, it will be extended until the beginning of May,” he said during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8, Ukrainian media reported.
He added that strict restrictions would remain in place until May even if the number of cases decreased. Shmygal had previously announced that, should the number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine decline, the government could start to gradually loosen the quarantine measures at the end of April. However, it is too early to say when the quarantine will end, as the country is on the verge of a peak in the spread of the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said in a video released on the ministry’s Facebook page on April 7.
Stepanov warned that the number of patients was sharply increasing to the point of overloading the medical system.
“To put it simply, the number of patients is increasing so much that there are not enough doctors to help them, nor medicines, nor beds in hospitals,” he said, while thanking businesses and volunteers for their support.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine is expected to reach its apex on April 14-15.
On April 3, the Cabinet of Ministers ordered that quarantine measures be strengthened in the country until April 24 to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19. All the intensified measures came into effect by April 6.
It is now forbidden to go out without a face mask and to visit public places like parks, squares, recreation areas, forest parks, and coastal zones.
The measures ban gathering in groups of more than two people unless accompanying children or carrying out activities required by one’s work. They also forbid children under 14 from being in public places without an accompanying adult, require all people to carry identification documents when out in public and close all institutions that provide social services and palliative or social care units to visitors.
People over 60 are required to stay home.
The number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine has reached 1,668 as of 9.00 a.m. on April 8, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
Fifty-two people have died from the disease, an increase of seven since the previous report on April 7. In total, 35 people have recovered since the beginning of the outbreak in Ukraine.
Globally, COVID-19 has killed 82,124 people as of April 8, and infected over 1.4 million people; 302,324 patients have recovered.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- As of April 8: 52 people have died from COVID-19 in Ukraine; 35 people have recovered.
- 5 Ukrainians died from the novel coronavirus abroad; 15 recovered.
- 1,668 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine as of early April 8. 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.
