Ukraine has identified 2,430 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during his morning briefing on Sept. 3. As of 9 a.m., there are 65,842 active cases across Ukraine.
In the past 24 hours, Ukraine has recorded 54 deaths from COVID-19, 416 patients have been hospitalized and 859 people have recovered.
The largest numbers of new cases were recorded in the city of Kyiv (280) and Kharkiv (301), Ternopil (242), Lviv (209), Ivano-Frnakivsk (163), Chernivtsi (137) and Odesa oblasts (116).
The total number of infections identified in the country since the start of the pandemic stands at 128,228. A total of 59,676 people have recovered and 2,710 have died of the disease.
Ukraine’s daily COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries from July 16 to Sept. 2, 2020. All data were released by the Ministry of Health.
During the past 24 hours, laboratories have administered 23,990 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests across the country, Stepanov said during his briefing. They also carried out 22,161 antibody tests (IFA).
During his briefing on Sept. 2, Stepanov said that 44% of available hospital beds for treating patients with suspected COVID-19 are currently occupied. Because the number of hospitalized patients is rapidly growing, the health ministry is getting new hospitals involved almost every day, he said.
On Sept. 1, a new school year began in Ukraine. Children will attend in-person classes across the country, except in the areas with the most severe COVID-19 epidemics.
Read more: Back to school: Yes, really
Ukraine’s daily new COVID-19 cases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way of diagnosing the novel coronavirus, between July 16 and Sept. 2, 2020.
Epidemic growing
During his Aug. 31 briefing, Stepanov said that, over the past week, Ukraine has identified 14,358 cases. Just two weeks ago, during the week of Aug. 10-16, that number was noticeably lower: 10,863. During Aug. 17-23, that number was 13,937.
The weekly numbers of hospitalized patients have also recently increased, Stepanov said. Last week, 2,829 people were hospitalized, while earlier in August the number was 2,699. The hospitalization numbers have grown significantly compared to May, when 749 patients were hospitalized during one of the weeks.
Over the past week, laboratories have performed 124,922 PCR tests, Stepanov said on Aug. 31. The weekly test numbers have also grown significantly since several months ago: During one week in May, Ukraine administered under half that number: 58,346 PCR tests.
As of Aug. 31, 9,972 hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients across Ukraine. More than 11,000 beds are supplied with oxygen, Stepanov said. The Ministry of Health aims to increase that number so that 80% of all hospital beds for treating COVID-19 patients will be provided with oxygen. Currently, only 32% of the beds are supplied with oxygen.
On Sept. 1, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine expects to have 3,000 new cases a day by the end of September.
Current quarantine restrictions
Since Aug. 3, new rules for Ukraine’s COVID-19 quarantine have come into force: communities, rather than entire regions, are now divided into green, yellow, orange and red levels of severity of the spread of COVID-19. The authorities in districts, cities, and towns will have to tighten or relax quarantine restrictions in accordance with the new categories. The levels are based on four indicators that are reviewed every five days.
Starting on Sept. 1, the government will tighten the quarantine restrictions in the green level regions, where the virus is spreading more slowly. In these regions, the government will ban discos, nightclubs and restaurants where people gather to dance or organize mass events.
The full list of regions and their zone categorization is available here (in Ukrainian).
To contain the spread of the virus, Ukraine closed its borders to foreign citizens for a month on Aug. 28. The ban will last until Sep. 28.
Foreigners with permanent residency permits and refugees will be exempt from the ban, as will transit passengers who can confirm that they will leave the country in no more than two days.
The ban also will not apply to citizens invited to the country by Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs or members of diplomatic missions and international organizations.
The full list of foreign citizens who are exempted from the ban is available here (in English).
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Ukraine introduced four COVID-19 threat levels for cities, communities
- Ukraine extended the so-called “adaptive quarantine” until October 31.
- Ukraine entered the fourth stage of lifting quarantine on June 10.
- Indoor restaurants, domestic flights resumed on June 5, international flights on June 15
- How the Ukrainian government has been responding: TIMELINE
- Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro subways reopened on May 25.
- Why the Kyiv Post isn’t making its coverage free in the times of COVID-19.
- With international travel on hold, Ukrainians prepare to travel across Ukraine
- TripsGuard website tracks coronavirus travel restrictions in 84 nations.
- Where to buy masks.
