COVID-19 in Ukraine: 3,240 new cases, 48 dead, 92,442 active cases

19 Sep 2020 | Ukraine | 362 |
COVID-19 in Ukraine: 3,240 new cases, 48 dead, 92,442 active cases

Ukraine has registered 3,240 new COVID-19 cases as of 10 a.m. on Sept. 19. In the past 24 hours, 48 people have died, record-breaking 669 were hospitalized and 1,268 patients have recovered. There are currently 92,442 active cases across the country.

The highest numbers of new cases were recorded in the city of Kyiv (400),  Ternopil Oblast (311), Odesa Oblast (281), Lviv Oblast (260), Kharkiv Oblast (200), and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (181).

In the past 24 hours, laboratories carried out 29,121 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 23,296 antibody tests.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic stands at 172,712. A total of 76,754 patients have recovered and 3,516 have died.

According to Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov, the ministry has introduced new changes on COVID-19 testing. From now on there is no need to do another PCR test for person after 14 days of self-isolation if all symptoms of the disease are gone, Stepanov said during the briefing on Sept.19.

On Sept. 16, the Health Ministry said that a red level of epidemiological risk will be introduced in regions if the number of COVID-19 patients is more than five times higher than the nationwide average or if at least 75% of hospital beds are occupied for five days in a row.

From now on, decisions on introducing the red level will be made jointly by national and regional commissions for technological and environmental safety and emergencies. Previously such decisions were made only by the national authorities.

Since the introduction of the “outbreak zoning” to respond to local outbreaks, local authorities have refused to tighten restrictions in accordance with the zone in some localities, citing the economic burden it would bring to residents. Moreover, city officials of Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Ternopil said they would sue the central government for marking their cities as “red zone.”

The change in epidemiological zone policy on Sept. 16 represents a significant concession to regional authorities.

Current zones

Starting Sept. 14, the following cities were marked as having the orange level of COVID-19 threat: Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Drohobych, Sumy, Kharkiv, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Khmelnytsky, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Irpin, Fastiv, Bersychiv, Korosten, Chornomorsk and a number of administrative districts.

The orange level means the local authorities will have to close hostels (but not hotels), gyms, fitness centers and cultural establishments, cancel planned hospitalizations, ban entertainment venues and restaurants at night and limit mass events to a maximum of 100 people on condition that there is no more than one person per 20 square meters.

The cities of Chernivtsi, Kolomyya, Kalush, Chortkiv, Berezhany, Dubno, Kaniv, Nizhyn and other administrative districts remain in the red zone, which means the closure of public transport, restaurants, cafes, shopping malls, schools and universities.

At the same time, the cities of Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Izmail and few others left the red zone and entered the orange one, Stepanov said during his briefing on Sept. 19. However, as of Sept. 18, the incidence rate in Ternopil was almost five times higher than country’s average.