The Kyiv authorities have closed off all of the city’s public beaches from swimming starting from July 17, citing healthcare concerns.
“Amid continuing heatwave, waters are blossoming,” as public utility company Pleso, part of the Kyiv city council, reported. That causes the multiplication of blue-green algae that consume oxygen from the water and emit toxins.
“As a result, decreasing oxygen concentration level precipitates mass fish mortality. In such a situation, the sanitary quality of water deteriorates.”
It is not clear when swimming will be allowed again. Pleso vowed to notify the public as soon as the situation gets normalized.
However, all the public beaches remain open for non-swimming recreation in the meantime.
In general, the city authorities maintain 14 official public beaches throughout the Dnipro basin.
Earlier, the Public Health Center of Ukraine on July 13 also recommended that Kyivans avoid swimming at the city beaches amid the high levels of the Escherichia coli bacteria.
