America recorded its 1,000 death from COVID-19 on March 26. Ukraine will hit that number in the coming days.
But a nation that thought that its swift, hard lockdown would prevent an explosion of deaths like in America, with more than 120,000 fatalities, now has reason to worry.
Ukraine marked single-day records in deaths and infection this week. And Ukrainians, who are enjoying renewed liberties after the government eased restrictions on May 11 to help revive an ailing economy, are in no mood to go back into lockdown.
They’re fed up with a quarantine that began on March 12, nine days after the first recorded case on March 3. Consequently, people are becoming lax in wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding crowded places, and social distancing. It’s not hard to find indoor dining in Kyiv restaurants, although the establishments are still supposed to be limiting themselves to serving only on outdoor terraces, delivery, and takeout.
As has been said about other countries, but which also applies here, Ukrainians are done with COVID-19. But COVID-19 is not done with them.
Ukraine’s authorities named the nation’s reluctance to follow rules as the major cause of the COVID-19 spike in the last week.
“We can clearly spot trends that indicate that after Ukraine had started easing the quarantine and started applying containment strategy, we experienced the rise in numbers of new cases,” Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said during the daily briefing on June 18.
The caseload jumped on June 10 and has been rising ever since. A single-day high death toll of 31 was reported on June 17 and a single-day high of 829 new infections was recorded on June 18.
In the past week, the laboratories confirmed 5,682 new cases, bringing the total to 34,063 cases as of June 18.
“This is the result of the fact that we, Ukrainians, completely abolished quarantine restrictions (for ourselves),” complained Health Minister Maksym Stepanov.
And with rising infections, comes a rising death toll – 133 Ukrainians died of COVID-19 during the past week – bringing the total to 966 as of June 18.
It can get worse
As many as 7,000 Ukrainians could die of the virus by the end of the year, Lyashko said. But scenarios are all over the place, depending on how the virus acts and how people behave. Deaths could be as low as 2,500 this year.
But one thing is certain, Lyashko said. The death toll will be higher than it needs to be if people don’t take the coronavirus seriously. “Consciously taking off your medical mask in public transport or inside public buildings, just think about these numbers,” Lyashko appealed to Ukrainians.
The World Health Organization says that, in only 30% of COVID-19 cases, people show symptoms. That means 132,000 people could be infected in Ukraine at the moment.
That’s why the country is launching a nationwide antibody testing to see how many people have developed immunity to coronavirus. The focus is on cities and villages that experienced coronavirus outbreaks in hospitals, infecting many medical workers.
The extended quarantine
The rise in COVID-19 cases prompted the government to extend the “adaptive quarantine” to July 31 and threaten a return to tougher measures if new infections don’t go down.
“I understand that people are tired of quarantine in any of its shapes. However, there is no other, more effective way, in curbing the virus’ spread. I call on all Ukrainians not to get too relaxed and not to lose touch with reality,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the Cabinet of Ministers on June 17.
As of now, the metro is working, trains are running and even planes are flying (to and from some destinations, at least) since June 15. Outdoor cafes, beauty salons, and gyms all restarted.
But a new lockdown can be put in place June 22, Lyashko said. As of now, Lviv, Zakarpattia, Volyn, Rivne, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia oblasts and Kyiv are struggling the most to rein COVID-19 spread.
The state is watching closely the number of new infections, the availability of hospital beds, and the number of tests performed. The decision on easing or enhancing restrictions is made by the chief sanitary doctor of every oblast, subject to review by the local authorities.
One area where there appears to be no rollback in the offing is public transportation. To the contrary, the government wants to increase the volume as much as possible to avoid overcrowding.
“The government understands – to demand (people to follow the rules), we have to create the conditions for them to obey the quarantine restrictions,” Shmyhal said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bermet Talant contributed to this story.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- As of 9 a.m. on June 19: 985 people have died from the disease in Ukraine and 16,033 have recovered.
- 34,984 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ukraine as of June 19. The first case was identified on March 3.
- Ukraine entered the fourth stage of lifting quarantine on June 10.
- Indoor restaurants, domestic flights resumed on June 5, international flights on June 15
- How the Ukrainian government has been responding: TIMELINE
- Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro subways reopened on May 25.
- Why the Kyiv Post isn’t making its coverage free in the times of COVID-19.
- With international travel on hold, Ukrainians prepare to travel across Ukraine
- TripsGuard website tracks coronavirus travel restrictions in 84 nations.
- Where to buy masks.
