Poll: Most Ukrainians support imposing curfew amid coronavirus quarantine

A large majority of Ukrainians appear to support heavy restrictions on public activities and outdoor movement amid Ukraine’s ongoing quarantine, the latest survey by pollster Rating Group shows.

The poll results, published on April 1, indicate that as much as 58% of the country’s population would endorse placing a curfew on cities as part of the government’s measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Moreover, 83% of respondents endorse the current general ban on all mass events, including meetings and strikes; 71% support limiting transportation in certain cities and oblasts and 65% would agree to curtail the use of private vehicles.

However, only 49% of Ukrainians said they were ready to support declaring a state of emergency in the country, while 43% oppose it.

On March 25, Ukraine instituted the lesser “emergency situation” regime, which is set to remain in force until at least April 24. However, unlike a state of emergency, this regime does not allow the government to curtail constitutional rights and liberties.

Despite the strong support of quarantine measures and curfews among Ukrainians, 80% of respondents strongly oppose providing the authorities with the right to expropriate the property of individuals and legal entities. Only 14% of Ukrainians said they would not object to such actions.

Current quarantine

Ukraine’s quarantine measures and national lockdown are scheduled to remain in force until April 24. On March 31, the country’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said he supports extending the quarantine until at least May 12.

Currently, all public transportation is strictly limited all across the country and all non-essential businesses have been shut down or ordered to work remotely.

Ukrainians are strongly encouraged to stay indoors, practice social distancing and pay closer attention to personal hygiene.

As of April 1, Ukraine has registered 669 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Seventeen people have died of the disease in Ukraine, and 10 have recovered.

Over 875,000 cases have been confirmed globally, with over 43,000 deaths as of April 1, according to the World Health Organization.

On March 28, Ukraine terminated all passenger transportations across its border, with the exception of several special evacuation flights from countries like the United States, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Nearly 80,000 Ukrainians have returned home from abroad since March 13. All were obliged to self-isolate in their homes, although nothing was done to enforce and control the home quarantine requirement.

On March 30, the Ukrainian authorities decided to put all citizens arriving from abroad into obligatory 14-day observation in special hotels at their own expense, which triggered outrage among tourists arriving home from Vietnam and Indonesia.

As the new poll shows, Ukrainians have a mixed position on people coming from abroad and potentially bringing the virus with them. Thus, 34% of respondents believe that, despite closed borders, the government must continue admitting its citizens, while 24% say the authorities must be selective in terms of who can enter after a foreign trip. Additionally, 34% said that no one should be allowed to enter the country for the duration of the quarantine.

Most Ukrainians appear to support stronger enforcement of quarantine: 71% of them believe violators should be fined, while 19% disagree.

Assessing government

Ukrainians also had strong opinions on the state’s response to coronavirus. Almost 60% said they consider the government’s actions to be adequate, while 28% said the authorities had reacted weakly.

Only 6% believe the Ukrainian authorities are overreacting.

Moreover, a vast majority of respondents (70%) believe that the quarantine measures are effective, and even more (80%) say they support extending the lockdown until April 24 for the sake of preventing the disease’s spread.

Additionally, 56% positively evaluated President Volodymyr Zelensky’s policies on fighting COVID-19.

Respondents’ appraisal of other institutions was much more mixed: only 38% took a favorable view of the actions of the Ministry of Health, 37% supported the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and only 30% approved of the actions of the Cabinet of Ministers led by Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.

Rating Group noted that public opinion of government institutions’ policies during the coronavirus crisis has grown more positive over the past two weeks.