Health minister slams celebration while COVID-19 cases rise

Ukraine continued setting COVID-19 related records, with
2,723 new cases registered on Sept. 3, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov
announced on Sept. 4. He also stated that 51 COVID-19 related deaths were
registered on Sept. 3., compared to a record-breaking 54 registered on Sept. 2.

Twenty eight districts in Ukraine are now labeled as
coronavirus red zones after a state expert committee review, Minister of the
Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchinov tweeted on Sept. 3. This raises the number
of districts under strict quarantine from 21 last week and double the number
two weeks ago.

On Sept. 3., Health Minister Stepanov also railed
against the decision to celebrate on Sept. 2 the founding of the city of Odesa,
as photos and videos showed tens of thousands of maskless people crammed into
the streets, media outlet Unian reported on the same day. The minister is
quoted as calling it, “beyond common sense,” and pointed out that hospitals in
Odesa region are already over 60% full.

James Hydzik: If the American motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD, which drew over
250,000 people in August, and in which dozens of new cases were traced to one
person with COVID-19 being in a bar, is anything to go by, it is inevitable
that the caseload will go up in Odesa. This event will have ramifications for
any politician tempted to hold rallies ahead of the Oct. 25 elections.