Kyiv to relax COVID restrictions beginning May 1

Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko announced on April 28
that the city would relax its quarantine regime on May 1. Public transport, in
particular the Kyiv Metro, would resume normal operation. Shops and shopping
centers, markets, gyms and fitness centers, among others, will be able to open
normally. Municipal offices would begin working, but visitors need to make
appointments electronically first. Kyiv schools will return to their normal
schedule from May 5.

On April 28, Klitschko reported via Telegram that the
city registered 1070 new cases of coronavirus and 40 fatalities due to it.

James Hydzik: Kyiv barely
managed to keep the latest wave of the pandemic under control. Despite a year
of improvements and two previous waves, the health care system was stretched to
the breaking point at several levels. The most disconcerting from a public
health perspective was the lack of cooperation between municipal hospitals and
those of other government entities. The hospital owned by the transportation
ministry, for example, had to be coerced by officials into cooperating.

It is almost a certainty that the cities of Ukraine
will experience at least one more wave. The severity cannot be estimated at
this time, but the question of what lessons were learned after this now-passing
wave will need to be kept in mind.