Ukraine cancels restrictions on foreigners arriving to Ukraine

Ukraine’s cabinet decided on June 12 to cancel immediately
prohibitions on foreigners arriving to Ukraine, relax the restrictions for
those arriving from abroad and cancel the same restrictions for those arriving
from Donbas and Crimea, its press service announced the next day. A second
Cabinet resolution that day requires all entering foreigners (other than
permanent residents and refugees) have an insurance policy to cover expenses on
monitoring and treating COVID-19. Monitoring is required of those visiting from
countries with significant COVID-19 infection rates, the resolution said, and
entry points to Ukraine must be outfitted with rooms for medical examination.

Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Zelensky, was
confirmed on June 12 to have been infected with the COVID-19 disease. “I will
say immediately that I feel well, but I am in outpatient treatment, isolated
from other members of my family so as not to endanger them,” she said in a
Facebook post. She added, “I want everyone to remember that it’s too early to
lose vigilance. Returning to active social life, remember that upon each person
depends not only personal health, but also the health of others.” As a result,
the president – who tested negative – will conduct his meetings in an online
regime, eliminating any personal meetings and trips beyond Kyiv.

An estimated 656 new coronavirus infections were
reported on June 14, after a single-day record of 753 infections was set on
June 12, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov announced at his daily briefing the
morning of June 15. Twelve people died on June 14 from the COVID-19 disease
caused by the coronavirus, while an estimated 171 patients recovered (while 409
recoveries were reported on June 12). The main reason for the growth in
infections is quarantine/lockdown restrictions not being upheld by citizens,
Stepanov said. In his turn, Liashko cited on June 13 the relaxation of
quarantine/lockdown restrictions.

In response to rising coronavirus infections, a state
commission on emergency situations decided on June 13 to intensify monitoring
of state properties, as well as suburban rail and auto transport. It also ruled
to adjust the schedule of a series of state enterprises and bodies “in order to
dilute the rush hour and reduce the load on intracity and intercity transport,
as well as reduce the clustering of people in transport,” Deputy Health Viktor
Liashko told a press briefing that day. The government doesn’t intend to
reintroduce a severe quarantine/lockdown in a single moment, he said. Yet in
those regions demonstrating an intensified pandemic for three straight days,
local bodies are supposed to apply the necessary measures to combat the virus’s
spread, he said.

Zenon Zawada: We are
seeing the government relax quarantine/lockdown restrictions on a grand scale (by allowing
the entry of foreigners), while at the same time taking softer measures, such
as monitoring, to cope with the growing infection rates in recent days. This
leads us to believe that the government is well aware of the political
consequences of an extended or reimposed severe quarantine and wants to avoid
such measures. That’s especially the case when the E.U. opening its borders as
of July 1, an event being eagerly awaited by hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian
citizens, depends on reciprocal measuresfrom the Ukrainian government. The government is interested in allowing these
people to depart for Europe.

We believe another motivating factor is the
government expects the number of infections to decline this week, which is
partly motivated by the low casualty rate. The statistics of the coming days
are worth closely observing, as we expect the president to be particularly
sensitive to them now that his own wife has been infected. However, he is also
sensitive to the consequences of denying hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians
from re-entering Europe, especially since they may become politically active in
the local elections campaigning.