Authorities will investigate the death of a 33-year-old woman who died from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in Chernivtsi Oblast, on suspicion of malpractice, law enforcement announced on their website on March 18.
The parents of the victim accused doctors of not providing proper medical care to their daughter. She was hospitalized with a suspected coronavirus infection, but her test results came back after she died, the press release stated.
If found guilty of malpractice, the doctors who treated the woman risk up to 2 years in prison.
The woman was the second COVID-19 patient to die in Ukraine, while the total number of confirmed cases in the country has grown to 14, Ukraine’s health ministry reported on March 17.
The first lethal COVID-19 case in Ukraine killed a 71-year-old woman on March 13 in Radomyshl, a city of 14,700 people some 110 kilometers west of Kyiv, in Zhytomyr Oblast.
Ukraine is among the European countries with the smallest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, which has infected over 204,000 and killed over 8,260 people worldwide. Ukraine has tested just over 500 people.
Five new cases of the infection were registered in Chernivtsi Oblast. All were exposed to an infected person. The list includes individuals aged 31 and 18, as well as three children — a 10-year-old, a one-year-old, and a six-month-old baby.
Chernivtsi Oblast, located some 500 kilometers southwest from Kyiv, was the place of the first COVID-19 case in Ukraine, which was detected in early March. The region announced a state of emergency on March 14.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- There have been 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine. The first case was identified on March 3.
- Two people died from the COVID-19 in Ukraine.
- To fight the spread of the virus, Ukraine shut down public transportation, domestic travel, restaurants.
- Kyiv went into quarantine, shutting down everything by supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, gas stations.
- Ukrainian lawmaker tested positive for COVID-19.
- Misinformation on coronavirus is going viral in Ukraine.
- Why the Kyiv Post isn’t making its coverage free in the times of COVID-19.
- Doctor’s advice: How to stay safe.
- Foreign Ministry: What you need to know about traveling to and from Ukraine now
Effects on economy:
- Here’s what the virus is doing to Ukraine’s economy.
- Ukrainian businesses respond to the crisis.
- The virus disrupts the transport sector. Ukrainian airlines canceled some flights to 16 countries due to the novel coronavirus.
- The National Bank of Ukraine continued to cut the policy rate while trying to buffer the hryvnia from coronavirus panic.
