Quarantine measures in Lviv will be escalated starting Friday, March 19. The lockdown will be in effect until March 28.
“It’s a difficult but extremely necessary decision of the emergency commission,” Lviv’s Mayor Andriy Sadovy announced on his Facebook page.
Lviv Oblast has been one of the top five regions in Ukraine by the number of new daily coronavirus cases since the start of March. Between 9 a.m. on March 16 and 9 a.m. on March 17, Lviv Oblast had 884 new cases, the second most in the country after the city of Kyiv (1,121).
The new lockdown measures introduced include the following restrictions:
- Elementary schools will go on vacation while secondary classes will continue distance learning
- All cultural institutions will cease to operate including theaters, cinemas, museums, concert venues
- Restaurants and cafes do only takeaway and delivery
- Only grocery stores, pharmacies and pet stores will operate in shopping malls
- Hardware stores will allow only to pick up pre-ordered goods
- All mass events and gatherings are to be postponed
- Beauty salons and gyms are only open by appointment
According to the mayor of Lviv, the authorities decided not to wait for the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers and immediately introduced the lockdown due to the deteriorating COVID situation and increase in the number of hospitalizations.
Kyiv will likely introduce a lockdown within days, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
“It’s a matter of days, or one week at maximum,” Klitschko said on March 17.
Four Ukrainian oblasts are now in the “red zone,” including Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia. The red zone means a full lockdown: Only essential businesses operate, and public transportation stops.
Kyiv Oblast (doesn’t include Kyiv) and Vinnytsya Oblast are close to entering the red zone, too.
On March 4, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has entered the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prime minister didn’t rule out the possibility of another nationwide lockdown.
The National Academy of Science believes that the third wave will be the deadliest yet, expecting 40,000 infections and 1,000 deaths each day. This wave is likely to last until mid-May, with the biggest spike in April, scientists believe.
