The Ukrainian government on Nov. 11 approved a “weekend lockdown” which will force non-essential businesses to close on Saturdays and Sundays.
The measure starts on Saturday, Nov. 14, and will last until at least Nov. 30, covering three weekends.
“We would like to do a complete lockdown for three weeks, but our economy won’t survive,” Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said at the government meeting held via a video conference call.
“We have to break this chain (of infections), so we don’t have thousands of people getting sick every day,” Stepanov added emotionally, pounding his fists on the table.
The “weekend lockdowns” will last for 48 hours, from 12 a.m. on Saturday to 12 a.m. on Monday.
The businesses that must be closed during this time are:
- cafes, restaurants, and bars (except for take-out orders);
- malls and other entertainment centers;
- cultural institutions, except institutions that produce audio-visual content with restricted access to recording locations;
- gyms, fitness centers, and swimming pools.
Essential businesses and services are still allowed to work on the weekends. They include:
- supermarkets, where 60% of the area is reserved for selling groceries;
- pharmacies, including veterinary pharmacies;
- gas stations, but food areas must stay closed;
- institutions that provide financial services, postal services, and repairs.
Transport will not be affected. Air travel and intercity trains will operate as usual. City transport will continue to operate, too.
Prior to the government meeting on Nov. 11, around 300 workers of the restaurant industry protested against the “weekend lockdown” plan in front of the Cabinet of Ministers building, the government’s headquarters.
“Our goal is not to stop the presence of people in entertainment venues and catering establishments. Our task is to reduce the flow of people in the subway, in marshrutkas (buses) and other transport; to reduce the social contacts of people during the weekends in order to stop the growth of the disease in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during the meeting.
“Because if nothing is done, by Dec. 10 to Dec. 15 the healthcare system will not be able to admit any more patients. There will be no places in hospitals, even in the hallways,” Shmyhal added.
Stepanov said that hospital beds are filling up rapidly in Ukraine. As of Nov. 11, 28,514 out of some 52,000 beds are occupied, he said.
No more ‘quarantine zones,’ same measures for all
The government also imposed a nationwide quarantine, dropping its idea of “adaptive quarantine” that assigned different “quarantine zones” for different communities. The new nationwide quarantine measures correspond with those that were used for communities with the orange level of COVID-19 threat.
This means that public events are limited to 20 people with at least 1.5 meters between them. Holding team sporting events is allowed only without spectators.
Public transport is only allowed to carry seated passengers, without additional standing passengers.
Cafes and restaurants are not allowed to have visitors from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. but can work for take-out and delivery during these hours. The operation of leisure facilities, such as nightclubs and discos, is forbidden.
Cinemas are allowed to work at no more than 50% seating capacity. And museums can operate if they can accommodate one person per 20 square meters.
Planned hospitalizations are forbidden, except for providing medical care to pregnant women and newborns, patients with cancer, and patients receiving palliative care. Earlier, on Nov. 11, Stepanov said that hospitalizations and operations would still be carried out if delaying them could harm the patient’s health or lead to death.
The government also recommended that shops and private and public institutions prioritize providing services to the elderly and people with disabilities.
Currently, the COVID-19 quarantine in Ukraine is set to expire on Dec. 31.
The number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Ukraine continues to grow. The government reported 10,611 new cases on the morning of Nov. 11, bringing the total number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to 489,808.
