As the number of new COVID-19 cases increases rapidly every day and hospitals fill up with patients, the Ukrainian government is considering imposing a strict lockdown in December.
The President’s Office is considering two main lockdown options, the news site Suspilne reported, citing its sources in the government.
Among the two options discussed is the so-called “light” three-week lockdown, which can be imposed right after the New Year’s celebration and last during the remainder of the winter holidays. But if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow, the government can impose a three-week lockdown earlier on Dec. 20.
While the government hasn’t commented on the rumors, some of its influential members back even stricter measures.
On Nov. 25, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the country needs to impose a full lockdown for three or four weeks and do it “as soon as possible,” implying that he wouldn’t wait until the winter holidays.
“(We) must immediately impose lockdown, break the chain of this infection and try to save the health of Ukrainians and escape the situation when we have over 200 (COVID-19) deaths every day,” Avakov said.
Lockdown talks
Ukrainian officials have been discussing various lockdown options since the number of daily cases started to grow rapidly across the country.
On Nov. 11, the Ukrainian government already approved a “weekend lockdown” which forced non-essential businesses to close on Saturdays and Sundays.
The measure started on Saturday, Nov. 14 and will last until at least Nov. 30, covering three weekends, if it isn’t prolonged. Its aim was to reduce the number of daily new COVID-19 cases.
However, almost three weeks into the weekend lockdown, the number of new COVID-19 infections continues to mount nearly every day, with the highest daily number of cases ever registered in Ukraine on Nov. 26 — 15,331 new cases. The previous daily record was 14,580 on Nov. 21 and 14,575 cases on Nov. 20.
According to Health Minister Maksym Stepanov, the weekend lockdown was the only alternative to a complete lockdown that would shatter the economy.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Facebook on Nov. 22 that the government was discussing the possibility to enhance the quarantine and develop a so-called “Plan B” in case the weekend lockdown fails to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Full lockdown is an option in case the healthcare system comes close to a collapse, Stepanov said on Nov. 23. According to him, that may happen when the country hits 25,000-30,000 daily coronavirus cases.
As of Nov. 26, Ukraine’s health ministry has designated 57,446 hospital beds, or over one-third of all available hospital beds in the country, for COVID-19 patients. More than 27,000 of those beds are connected to oxygen equipment and only 13,653 are free.
Still, there has not been any official decision on a complete lockdown in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Nov. 24, announced that Ukrainian entrepreneurs and employees whose field of activity is closed due to the quarantine will receive Hr 8,000 (around $281) as financial assistance.
Fines
Apart from the possible lockdown, Ukraine imposed fines of Hr 170-225 ($6-9) for not wearing masks in public spaces and public transport.
Four days after the new law came into force on Nov. 21, over 2,000 Ukrainians were fined for not wearing masks, Stepanov said during the morning briefing on Nov. 25.
In fact, fines for failing to wear masks already existed in Ukraine but they were applied ineffectively. These fines were too high — around Hr 17,000 ($600) — and they could only be issued by a judge after a police officer had filed a report to the court. In practice, many judges have been hesitant to impose such a severe fine.
