Ukraine will extend its COVID-19 quarantine restrictions until April 30, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during the Feb. 17 meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Starting from Feb. 24, the country returns into the so-called “adaptive quarantine” and will again be divided into four epidemiological levels, depending on the COVID-19 situation across the country’s oblasts, the Cabinet of Ministers indicated in the decree published today.
Ukraine was under the “orange” quarantine level since the end of the recent lockdown that was in force on Jan. 8-24. Now, the country will be divided into zones of green, yellow, orange and red epidemiological levels.
Each of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts will be assigned a level depending on the local situation with new infections and the number of available hospital beds.
Initially, all of Ukraine will be assigned the yellow level. It means that most of the current restrictions will stay in force.
What will change on Feb. 24?
- The government will allow restaurants, cafes, bars and canteens to work until 12 a.m., while earlier they were allowed to work only until 11 p.m.;
- It will be allowed to hold mass sports and cultural events if there is one person per 4 square meters, or if 50% of the hall is occupied. Prior to that, the number of people was limited to 20;
- Group classes at educational institutions will no more be limited to 20 people;
- The government will allow sports events to have spectators, although there should be no more than 50% of the seats occupied;
- Swimming pools will be allowed; gyms will be allowed to host more visitors.
The Health Ministry said it will provide more information soon.
According to Stepanov, there will be no additional limitations for the orange level zone. The orange zone will only indicate that the region may reach the red level soon.
However, local authorities of the oblasts where the orange level is imposed can also establish some additional restrictions, according to Stepanov.
The orange level can be imposed if a region meets at least one of these criteria:
- The occupancy of beds with lung ventilators is higher than 65%;
- The number of conducted PCR and antigen tests in the last seven days is less than 300 per 100,000 of the population;
- There are over 60 people hospitalized with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 of the population;
- The detection rate of COVID-19 cases by PCR or antigen tests is over 20%;
- Over 50% increase of hospitalizations during the last 7 days.
The red level can be imposed if the oblast meets at least two of the orange level criteria three days in a row.
According to Stepanov, red level means there will be a lockdown, like the one Ukraine had in January: Eateries will be allowed to provide delivery and takeout only, all entertainment facilities such as shopping malls, cinemas and theaters will be closed; educational institutions will be closed except for kindergartens and primary schools, gyms along with clothing stores and markets will be closed as well.
However, after the recent lockdown came to an end, Stepanov said that the ministry had no plans to impose a new lockdown in March or April because the January lockdown yielded good results and stabilized the situation.
At the same time, while many countries already started COVID-19 vaccinations in mid-December, Ukraine still hasn’t started.
The vaccination was expected to start on Feb. 15. However, the Health Ministry has postponed it due to “logistical and bureaucratic issues,” according to Stepanov. Still, he said, it will start “within days.”
Read more: Everything to know about COVID vaccination in Ukraine
