COVID-19 in Ukraine: 2,174 new infections, 31 dead, 72,585 active cases

Ukraine has registered 2,174 new COVID-19 cases as of 9 a.m. on Sept. 7. Currently, there are 72,585 active cases across the country.

In the past 24 hours, 31 people have died, 269 were hospitalized, and 379 patients recovered. Laboratories administered 15,224 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 3,782 antibody tests.

Usually, the number of tests and confirmed new cases and recoveries drop on weekends.

The highest number of new cases were recorded in Kyiv city (244), Lviv Oblast (186), Ternopil Oblast (165), Chernivtsi Oblast (163), Ivano-Frankivsk (161), Odesa Oblast (145) and Kharkiv Oblast (139).

Ukraine’s daily COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries from July 17 to Sept. 6, 2020. All data were released by the Ministry of Health.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic stands at 138,068. A total of 62,606 patients have recovered and 2,877 have died.

Speaking at his morning briefing on Sept. 7, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said that the government is planning to increase the number of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients from the current 35,000 to some 50,000.

As of Sept. 4, 10,270 patients were receiving treatment in hospitals, and, in some regions, hospitals designated for COVID-19 patients are 60% full.

On Sept. 7, the Health Ministry expanded the list of cities and areas with the red, or highest, level of COVID-19 threat. Among them are such cities as Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyya, and Kalush in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast; Ternopil, Berezhany, and Chortkiv in Ternopil Oblast; and Chernivtsi.

The rules of the adaptive quarantine order “the red” areas to shut down businesses, schools and public transportation. However, since the four levels of COVID-19 threat were introduced as a way to control local outbreaks in early August, local authorities have refused to tighten restrictions.

Moreover, the mayors of Ivano-Frankvsk, Ternopil and Kalush said they have sued the Cabinet of Ministers demanding to cancel the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, which they call illegal and unconstitutional, likely referring to the Aug. 28 ruling of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the changes to the state budget made as part of the Cabinet of Ministers’ nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19 were unconstitutional. However, the court didn’t review the lockdown restrictions on freedom of movement, doing business, right to assembly and access to medical help since the decree by which they were imposed had already expired.

Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Roman Martsinkiv, who initiated the mayors’ lawsuit, has placed the decision of the local council above the central government’s order. Speaking at a briefing on Sept. 7, he said that the city will reopen schools and kindergartens next week irrespective of Kyiv’s decision.

Ukraine’s daily new COVID-19 cases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way of diagnosing the novel coronavirus, between July 17 and Sept. 6, 2020.