Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told his country to prepare for the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus, despite uncertainty over whether the first wave has peaked or not. Zelensky stressed the importance of prompt procurement for personal protective equipment (PPE), especially in hospitals, for preventing the spread of coronavirus. According to the president’s press service, the Health Minister Maksym Stepanov reported that over 100,000 respirator masks had just been brought to Ukraine in cooperation with the World Bank. However, top officials and experts continue to state that the amount still falls short.
Zelensky stated: “The world expects a second wave of coronavirus. We coped relatively well with the first, although unfortunately we lost more than 600 lives. We must be prepared with all… in the future.” The president also said that “hospitals, doctors, pharmacies: everywhere there should be masks, disinfectants, equipment. Purchases take too long. It is necessary to look for ways out in order to shorten this process, so that in the future the ministry makes purchases faster. We know what a complicated bureaucracy we’ve got. Find ways to simplify it. Every delay can cost us lives.”
Zelensky will take the purchase of protective equipment under his direct control. As the president stated, according to Interfax, this topic was discussed at a conference call with health officials about combating the spread of coronavirus. The head of state did not agree with the statement that Ukrainian hospitals are currently provided with everything necessary in sufficient quantity.
His official press service reported that Zelensky said: “We are receiving signals that hospitals don’t have everything [they need]. Despite the government’s figure that the medical institutions are provided 70%, some assets are not available. Doctors are provided with antiseptics… but disposable gowns – only 16%, and disposable goggles and shields – 4%, biohazard suits – 51%. Therefore, hospitals are not provided with everything [they need]. To talk about 70% provision, we need to have all the assets at the level of 70%.”
If necessary Ukraine may increase the number of tests for COVID-19 to 40,000 or 50,000 per day, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said. “Today, we have reached the limit of more than 9,000 tests per day. Then we will take the pooling [in communities] method – combining 4,000-5,000 tests simultaneously in one test tube, and if the test tube shows a positive result, then these 5,000 tests will be considered on a case-by-case basis,” Shmyhal told Interfax-Ukraine.
Shmyhal emphasized that the country entered quarantine smoothly, and therefore the exit from it should also be smooth. “With the growth of testing, the number of cases remain stable, and the number of patients recovered is either close to the number of cases or exceeds them. We are waiting for the time when we reach the peak curve and see the decline. Then there will be a full exit from quarantine mode. The world has not encountered such a pandemic, so we are constantly in a stressful experiment,” he added.
Zelensky has asked Israel to ratify free trade agreement between the countries as soon as possible, his press service has said. Zelensky in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, support for bilateral trade is especially important for both countries. “He called on the Israeli side to complete the ratification of the bilateral free trade agreement, signed on Jan. 21, 2019, as soon as possible,” the press service of the Ukrainian head of state said on Monday.
