Ukraine has registered 3,261 new cases of COVID-19 as of 9 a.m. on March 9, bringing the total number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to over 1.4 million.
In the past 24 hours, 975 COVID-19 patients have recovered and 76 have died. Almost 1.2 million people have recovered from COVID-19 and 27,204 have died since the pandemic hit Ukraine.
In the past 24 hours, 1,837 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19.
Ukraine’s daily new COVID-19 cases and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most accurate way of diagnosing the novel coronavirus, between Jan. 23, 2020 and March 8, 2021. All data was released by the Ministry of Health.
Ukrainian laboratories have carried out 13,101 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, 1,674 antibody tests and 3,432 rapid antigen tests in the past day. Over 7 million PCR tests have been conducted in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic.
The largest numbers of new cases have been recorded in the Vinnytsia Oblast (460), Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (433), Chernivtsi Oblast (409), Lviv Oblast (315), and the city of Kyiv (201).
Ukraine’s daily COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries from Jan. 10, 2021 to March 8, 2021. All data was released by the Ministry of Health
Vaccination in Ukraine began on Feb. 27 and by March 9, a total of 19,118 people have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute.
In the past 24 hours, the largest number of vaccinations was recorded in Donetsk Oblast (294) and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (187).
To date, Ukraine has received 500,000 doses of vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute. Ukraine has ordered a total of 17 million doses from India, including vaccines developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical AstraZeneca and U.S. biotech firm Novavax. Altogether, Ukraine expects to receive around 22 million doses in 2021.
On March 1, the Health Ministry started accepting online and telephone applications from Ukrainians who want to be put on the waiting list for the vaccine.
According to a law passed by the government on Jan. 13, businesses have to refuse to service any customer who’s not wearing a mask and call the police if the person refuses to put it on. A mask has to cover both the nose and mouth.
Starting Feb. 24, the country returned to a so-called “adaptive quarantine” where each oblast is assigned one of four epidemiological levels, depending on the COVID-19 situation there. There are green, yellow, orange and red levels. A red status means that a lockdown will be imposed locally.
Initially, all of Ukraine was designated yellow, meaning most of the current restrictions will stay in force.
The Ministry of Health has designated the city of Kyiv as “orange” on March 6.
Cities in the orange zone must order clubs and restaurants to shut down at night. Furthermore, 50% of seats at restaurants must be empty, and museums, libraries, and shopping centers must have no more than one person per 10 square meters.
Currently, most cafes and restaurants, which are crowded during the day and in the evenings, close before midnight.
Zakarpattia Oblast was added to the list of “red” zones starting March 8, meaning it will have to shut down entertainment businesses and restaurants until further notice because of spikes in the numbers of cases.
Three Ukrainian oblasts, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia, already had to shut down all non-essential businesses and ban mass events for a week starting Feb. 22, Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said on Feb. 19.
On March 4, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has entered the third wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The prime minister didn’t rule out the possibility of a future nationwide lockdown.
“It’s obvious that the third wave of the pandemic has started. Strict restrictions in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi oblasts have already been introduced,” Shmyhal said during his press conference.
“A few more regions are on the way (to new restrictions),” he added.
