A total of 334 medical professionals have been infected with COVID-19 in Ukraine, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said in an April 10 interview with the Inter television channel.
Medical professionals make up 15% of all COVID-19 cases in the country, he said.
Medical personnel contracting COVID-19 is a serious challenge to medical systems around the world. For this reason, doctors and nurses should wear protective gear — hazmat suits, respirator masks, goggles, gloves and more — when treating COVID-19 patients. However, shortages of these critical supplies have left medical professionals in both Ukraine and other countries exposed to the virus.
“We are doing our best to provide individual protection tools to them,” Stepanov said. “Every day planes carry tens and hundreds of thousands of respirator masks, hazmat suits and protective goggles.”
Another major problem that Ukraine faces is that people seek treatment too late after being infected, he said.
Stepanov said that his ministry had created a working group including leading doctors to create a common methodology for treating COVID-19.
The number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine has reached 2,511 as of 9 a.m. on April 11, according to the ministry.
Seventy-three people have died from the disease, an increase of four since the previous report on April 10. In total, 79 people have recovered since the beginning of the outbreak in Ukraine.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- As of April 11: 73 people have died from COVID-19 in Ukraine; 79 people have recovered.
- As of April 11, 6 Ukrainians have died from the novel coronavirus abroad; 19 recovered. 172 are currently undergoing treatment abroad.
- 2,511 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine as of early April 11. 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.
