Interior Minister calls for immediate COVID lockdown

Ukraine’s Interior
Minister Arsen Avakov holds that the country needs an immediate, strict
quarantine lasting 3-4 weeks. Avakov was speaking on the TV channel Ukraine 24
on Nov 26 when he made the statements. He hoped that by instituting this now,
Ukraine could come out of the strict quarantine by New Year.

In related news,
Health Minister Maksym Stepanov reported by Facebook on Nov 27 that in the
previous day, Ukraine registered 16,218 new COVID-19 cases and that 192
patients had died.

James Hydzik:
Yesterday, we posited the question as to whether Ukrainians were willing to pay
the cost of waiting for a strict quarantine if it started in mid-December.
Minister Avakov is clearly advocating for not paying that price. We can assume
that Minister Stepanov is of the same line of reasoning – the sooner, the
better, and right away is best. However, there are problems besides the obvious
immediate economic ones. If Avakov’s vision were carried out and the quarantine
would end roughly with New Year, then winter holiday get-togethers are almost
likely a given, leading to a massive spike in cases – resulting in another
quarantine. A month-long quarantine might sound onerous to some at the moment,
but a double-dip – probably starting mid-January – is not unlikely.