83 dead from COVID-19 in Ukraine, 2,777 infected

The number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine has reached 2,777 as of 9 a.m. on April 12, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

Eighty-three people have died from the disease, an increase of 10 since the previous report on April 11. In all, 89 people have recovered since the beginning of the outbreak in Ukraine.

On April 11, for the first time, the number of recovered patients has outpaced the number of fatalities.

As of the morning of April 12, the largest number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine has been registered in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast (575 cases), Chernivtsi Oblast (432 cases), Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (291 cases), Ternopil Oblast (243 cases) and Vinnytsia Oblast (174).

Over the last 24 hours, Ukraine has identified 266 new COVID-19 cases.

During an April 12 online briefing, Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said that Ukraine had conducted 2,813 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way to diagnose COVID-19, in the past 24 hours and more than 30,000 such tests in total. He also said that 54 COVID-19 patients were on lung ventilators, an increase of nine since the previous day.

Lyashko said that the largest number of deaths from the disease had occurred in Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, but did not offer any concrete figure.

During the April 11 briefing, Lyashko said that his ministry had started checking all pneumonia patients for COVID-19, which it previously had not done.

Quarantine continues

Quarantine measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 will likely be extended until May, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8.

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 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.

As of April 9, 37 state laboratories and three private ones are processing COVID-19 tests, Ihor Kuzin, acting head of the health ministry’s Center for Public Health, said during a briefing. A COVID-19 patient can be considered healthy only after two negative PCR tests.

Kuzin also said that it is technically impossible to conduct mass testing and it is unnecessary, echoing an earlier statement by Deputy Health Minister Lyashko on April 7.

Changing protocol

On April 7, Lyashko clarified the protocol to follow in cases of suspected COVID-19 infections, saying that an ambulance won’t come to test every suspected case. First, a patient should call a general practitioner, he said. Only after this consultation can the patient be tested for COVID-19 — either by the doctor or by a mobile testing brigade. The samples will then be analyzed in a laboratory.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine is expected to reach its apex on April 14-15.

To prevent the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the government has intensified quarantine measures starting on April 6. It is now forbidden to go out without medical masks and visit public places like parks, squares, recreation areas, forest parks and coastal zones.

People over 60 are required to stay home.

Globally, COVID-19 has killed 108,854 people as of the morning of April 12, and infected over 1.7 million people; 404,554 patients have recovered.

The United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France are struggling the most to curb the spread of the disease.