COVID-19: Ukraine now has over 100,000 active cases

Ukraine has registered 3,372 new COVID-19 cases as of 9 a.m. on Sept. 24.

In the past 24 hours, 52 people have died, 685 were hospitalized and a record-breaking 1,788 patients have recovered from the novel coronavirus in Ukraine.

There are currently 100,891 active cases across the country.

The largest numbers of new cases were recorded in the city of Kyiv (330), Dnipro Oblast (298), Kharkiv Oblast (275), Ternopil Oblast (265) and Lviv Oblast (205).

In the past 24 hours, laboratories carried out 26,779 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 25,062 antibody tests.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic stands at 188,106. A total of 83,458 patients have recovered and 3,757 have died.

According to Health Minister Maksym Stepanov, the ministry has introduced changes to COVID-19 testing rules. From now on, there is no need to do another PCR test for patients recovering from COVID-19 at home after 14 days of self-isolation if all symptoms of the disease are gone, Stepanov said during the briefing on Sept. 19.

On Sept. 16, the Health Ministry said that a red level of epidemiological risk will be introduced in Ukraine’s regions where the number of COVID-19 patients is more than five times higher than the national average or if at least 75% of hospital beds are occupied for five days in a row.

From now on, decisions on introducing the red level will be made jointly by national and regional commissions for technological and environmental safety and emergencies. Previously such decisions were made only by the national authorities.

Read more: Government introduces new rules for implementing ‘red’ quarantine zones