Despite the fact that the epidemic of the COVID-19 has shown no signs of winding down, Ukraine will on May 11 ease some of the quarantine restrictions it had in force since mid-March.
The decision, approved by the government, brought a mixed response.
On the one hand, a gradual rollback of restrictions may ease the effect of the crisis on Ukraine’s economy, which is forecasted to drop 11% in the second quarter of 2020. Businesses have protested in front of the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv, demanding the rollback.
But there are concerns over the rollback of the restrictions coming at the time when Ukraine hasn’t yet flattened the curve.
The number of active COVID-19 cases has been slowly but steadily growing in Ukraine. Since mid-April, it has been adding from 100 to 400 active cases a day. As of May 7, Ukraine had 13,184 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 10,760 of them being active; 2,396 people recovered from the disease and 340 died.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to sound optimistic when he addressed the nation on May 7, pointing out that “the number of people recovering from coronavirus is steadily growing every day.”
“This is a positive trend that gives optimism,” he said. “At the same time, if we want to preserve all this, we must not relax, we must exit quarantine in a disciplined manner, and in accordance with a step-by-step plan.”
However, the Ukrainian government is yet to offer a “step-by-step plan” of exiting the quarantine that it can commit too. The Cabinet published one on April 24, laying out the conditions for easing the quarantine restrictions stage-by-stage. But days later, it went against its own plan, rolling off part of the restrictions even as none of the conditions were met.
What will open on May 11-12
There has been plenty of inconsistency in the government’s messaging about the rolling back of the quarantine restrictions. The government on May 4 announced a major rollback starting May 11-12 that included summer terraces of cafes and parts of shopping malls.
The health ministry published its recommendations on how businesses can open safely.
Kyiv will start rolling back the restrictions on May 12. The businesses that will be allowed to open in Kyiv on May 12 included:
• hairdressers and beauty salons;
• all stores that are up to 300 square meters in space; the number of customers that are inside simultaneously shouldn’t exceed one person per 10 square meters;
• restaurants will be allowed to sell take-out, although many did it anyway, and seat customers on summer terraces (with a set of restrictions);
• parks (no more than two adults in one group, who can take up to two children with them);
• manufacturing enterprises and businesses offering various services (repairs, clothing ateliers, etc.); they will also need to control the density — no more than one person, whether a client or an employee, per one square meter;
• lawyers’ and notaries’ offices;
Other places in Ukraine may see even more restrictions lifted. The Cabinet of Ministers’ list of businesses that can open also include shopping malls, kiosks, including those selling food and beverages, museums and libraries, and dentists.
These measures will be reviewed, the government said. If the spread of the virus intensifies, restrictions can be brought back.
There have been different interpretations of when the restrictions get eased: on May 11 or May 12. Shmygal initially said that May 11 was the date but Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said May 12.
Businesses are divided: in Kyiv, most open on May 12, others, however, announced they will open on May 11, an official holiday.
Dream Town, one of Kyiv’s biggest shopping malls, initially announced it will open on May 11, but later said it will stay closed after all — due to the order of the city authorities.
Public transport
The Ukrainian government will gradually reintroduce public transportation in Ukrainian cities starting May 11, even though the quarantine is scheduled until May 22, Shmygal announced on May 6 during a government meeting.
Shmygal, however, hasn’t specified much about what kind of transport exactly will restart its operation, saying that it’s up to city mayors to decide.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Kyiv will increase only the number of trams and trolleys and only to those districts that are insufficiently covered today. However, it is clear that subways, including the Kyiv Metro, won’t fully work until at least June.
According to the government’s lockdown exit plan, published in late April, subways will reopen only when the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 is two times higher than the number of new infections for 10 consecutive days. Currently, Ukraine is nowhere near this ratio.
But even then, only certain groups of people — those traveling for work — will be able to use subways, Shmygal said. He hasn’t mentioned how people will be able to prove they are using transportation to get to work. The government may lift all the restrictions for public transport by July if the number of new coronavirus cases does not exceed five in every oblast for 10 consecutive days.
Will the restaurants’ terraces open?
According to Klitschko, Kyiv restaurants will only be allowed to start serving take-out food on May 11, something that many restaurants were low-key doing anyway.
The government, however, said the summer terraces will be allowed to open.
Before, when the government and the city interpreted quarantine differently, it has usually been the city’s messaging that proved trustworthy. For example, when the government announced that food markets will open on May 1, in Kyiv it didn’t happen — the city said that most of the markets weren’t ready to function safely, and they opened several days later.
The Kyiv Post asked several restaurant owners in Kyiv about whether they are preparing to open summer terraces on May 11. They said they were waiting for more instructions from the government.
The health ministry drafted regulations for businesses that reopen, including for restaurants that look to open their summer terraces. The regulations rule that tables must stand no less than 1.5 meters apart, no more than two people can sit at one table. Moreover, the customers must make and receive their orders through a take-out window, without waiters involved. The customers aren’t allowed to enter the restaurant, meaning they can’t use the bathroom.
Igor Sukhomlyn, the owner of several restaurants in Kyiv, including Fish & Pussycat and Chashka, told the Kyiv Post those recommendations were absurd and he was looking forward to the government to change them. “There is no sense in opening (the terraces) under the proposed conditions,” he said.
Others, however, agreed to open the terraces under the health ministry’s rules. Zigzag, a popular eatery on Reitarska Street, said it will be welcoming customers outdoors — there won’t be waiters or access to the cafe’s restrooms.
What’s next?
The quarantine is officially extended until May 22, but it is unlikely to end then. Ukraine’s quarantine to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus may be further extended for another two months until July, Shmygal told Ukrainian Radio on May 5.
But it won’t be as strict as it is now. “Most likely, based on the World Health Organization data, the quarantine will be extended in the future but with further stages of loosening restrictions, should the situation in the country allow it,” Shmygal said.
Meanwhile, the government had a gloomy forecast for the quarantine’s impact on air travel.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that air travel in Ukraine will not start to fully function throughout summer.
More testing
Ukraine’s parliament on May 7 has passed a law aiming to launch mass coronavirus testing in the country, improve the working conditions of doctors and increase the Ukrainian health care system’s ability to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The bill, introduced to the parliament by Olga Stefanyshyna, a lawmaker from the 20-member Golos (“Voice”) party, received the support of 336 lawmakers.
According to the bill, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health must provide mass testing in outpatient and inpatient settings for:
• people with COVID-19 symptoms;
• those who came into contact with people confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus;
• doctors working with COVID-19 patients;
• the National Police, National Guard, and other workers involved in activities related to COVID-19 prevention, regardless of whether they have come into contact with infected people.
Stefanyshyna said that Ukraine ranks 107th in the world by the number of COVID-19 tests performed. Poland conducts three times as many tests per million people. Belarus does seven times more and Germany conducts 10 times more, she added.
Kyiv Post staff writers Daryna Antonyuk and Darya Shulzhenko contributed to this story.
