Ukraine health minister joins evacuees from China after attacks

Responding to road blockages and bricks hurled
at buses carrying Ukrainian and other evacuees from China’s city of Wuhan,
Ukrainian health minister Zoryana Skaletska announced on Facebook that she
would be joining the evacuees in their quarantine at a sanatorium in Novi
Sanzhary town approximately 300km from Kyiv, Unian reports. The protesters from
nearby villages had been incited by fake social media posts claiming that the
evacuees had tested positive for coronavirus.

Skaletska posted that she would be joining the
evacuees and crew of the aircraft that had flown them and would stay with them
throughout their 14-day quarantine and work via Skype. After calling out the
actions of those who had attempted to block the evacuees, she wrote that,
“I hope that my presence there will calm those in Novi Sanzhary, as well
as the rest of the country.”

James Hydzik: Though there have been
complaints about Skaletska and the stalling or rolling back of healthcare
reforms under acting-minister Ulyana Suprun, her placing herself under
quarantine with the evacuees should be effective in calming nerves. The
evacuees had passed a pre-screening for the virus, but the precautions taken by
the ministry were insufficient to prevent an attack by social media. Ukrainian
intelligence services searching for the source of the fake news will have to
show the same resolve as the health minister when it comes to announcing and
acting upon their findings.