Ukraine has registered 5,181 new cases of COVID-19 as of 9 a.m. on Jan. 29, bringing the total number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to over 1.2 million.
In the past 24 hours, 11,310 COVID-19 patients have recovered and 128 have died.
Over 1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 and 22,479 have died since the pandemic hit Ukraine.
There are currently 185, 773 active cases in Ukraine.
In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian laboratories have carried out 24,769 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 19,374 antibody tests. Over 6 million PCR tests have been conducted since the start of the pandemic.
The largest numbers of new cases have been recorded in Lviv Oblast (440), in the city of Kyiv (361), Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (356), Kyiv Oblast (326), and Vinnytsia Oblast (238).
On Jan. 25, Ukraine reopened after the lockdown that has been in place since Jan. 8. The work of all non-essential businesses has now resumed.
Health Minister Maksym Stepanov believes the number of new coronavirus infections has declined thanks to toughened quarantine restrictions.
However, the number of PCR tests administrated daily has been declining dramatically since early December, too. Stepanov faces criticism that the new infection figures are not reliable and that the number of infected people is much higher than the ministry’s reported.
On Jan. 24, Stepanov announced the Ministry had no plans to impose a new lockdown as the January one worked well.
Read more: Stepanov: Health Ministry has no intention to impose another lockdown in spring
The country went back to the adaptive quarantine measures that had been in force since before the January lockdown. Under the quarantine that is set to last at least until Feb. 28, mass gatherings like concerts and parties are limited to 20 people, restaurants can work until 11 p.m., and the policies on masks and social distancing remain in force in all public spaces.
Starting Jan. 14, business owners are fined if their employees or customers don’t wear face masks. The fines can range between $122 and $183.
According to the law passed by the government on Jan. 13, when employees notice a customer without a mask, they have to stop servicing them and call the police if the person refuses to put on their mask. A mask has to cover both the nose and mouth.
While many countries in the world have been giving the anti-coronavirus vaccine to their citizens since mid-December, Ukraine is about to start vaccination in February.
Read also: Everything to know about COVID vaccination in Ukraine
According to a survey by Rating sociological group, 52% of Ukrainians would not take the coronavirus vaccine, even if it was free.
