A protest against the strengthening of lockdown took place in Poltava. The protesters, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, demanded not to introduce strict lockdown in the country, namely, in Poltava, the press service of Poltava City Council said. The action was organized by Acting Mayor Oleksandr Shamota.
As local authorities report, the closure of enterprises, trade and catering enterprises, the sports industry and educational institutions is considered by people not only as an inexpedient step by the government, but also one that could lead to a rapid decline in the economy.
“The suspension of enterprises and the closure of the city will finally finish off the economy of Poltava and the country as a whole,” Shamota said.
Commenting on the action on his Facebook page, the mayor said that the protesters did not dispute the need for sanitary measures.
“Surely, we do not object to basic sanitary measures like wearing a mask, washing and disinfecting hands, and social distance. Therefore, each of the industries delegated ten of its representatives, who voiced their position and their attitude to the measures that the state is imposing on us today. But lockdown does nothing. Isolation does nothing. We see that there is no promised immunity to coronavirus infection, in Poltava, Chernivtsi and around the world, more and more cases of re-infection of people are recorded, which means that there will be no vaccine for it. This in turn means that any measures aimed at stopping the economy and people’s work are ineffective, we will not be able to keep people home forever,” Shamota said.
He also said that after the spring lockdown, in Poltava alone, more than Hr 74 million budget was not fulfilled, and the unemployment rate reached a record high since 2000. According to the secretary of the city council, such figures appeared due to the fact that a number of enterprises could not resume work and closed forever. First of all, trade establishments, representatives of markets and the beauty industry were affected by the lockdown.
In addition, the head of Poltava said that, according to his information, the Ministry of Education and Science is already preparing a package of documents according to which educational institutions throughout the country should go on vacation during the pre-election week.
