Ukrainian border to be shut today in quarantine, president says

The Ukrainian border
will be entirely closed by the end of Mar. 27 as part of the national state of
emergency declared two days earlier, President Zelensky said on Mar. 26 in a
video statement to the public. The border closure particularly applies to train
and automobile transport, he said. The same day, the President’s Office
reported that nearly half a million Ukrainian citizens have arrived from abroad
when Zelensky had urged on Mar. 13 fellow citizens to return, which is
“significantly more” than expected, the pravda.com.ua news site said.

As of noon, Mar. 27,
five people have died in Ukraine from the COVID-19 disease, according to the
Center for Public Health of the Health Ministry. An estimated 218 have been
infected, a 40% increase, or 62 more cases from the prior day. An estimated
1,401 cases involve suspected coronavirus infection. Four patients have
recovered so far. A fourth Ukrainian citizen was confirmed to have died abroad.
The highest infection rates are in the Chernivtsi, Kyiv and Ternopil regions,
according to the center’s data.

Zenon Zawada: The Mar. 25 announcement of the
extended severe quarantine raises the question of how long will Ukrainians
tolerate such conditions. In particular, this means being at home, without
work, having left a better paying job abroad. It would be logical if the
President’s Office has extended the severe quarantine with the plan of enabling
a gradual return to normalcy afterwards. This includes allowing Ukrainians to
return to their employment abroad.

We see big political
problems for the president if this severe quarantine is extended beyond the May
holidays (May 1-9), when the fields will have been already sown and Ukrainians
will be desperately in need of income (without any jobs in their cities and
villages). A long quarantine will only promote dissatisfaction, political
activity and protests.