Ukraine changes hospitalization schema as COVID-related cases mount

For the second day in a row, Ukraine recorded more
than 2,000 new cases of COVID-19, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov reported. Moreover,
along with the 2,106 new cases, a record 487 people were hospitalized for
COVID-19 related health problems.

Due to the influx of pandemic-affected patients, the
Health Ministry is preparing to change the algorithm for deciding who to select
for in-patient care in hospitals, pravda.com media reports Olga Golubovska,
Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Bogomolets National Medical
University. She explained that while moderately serious cases of COVID-19 are
still being accepted in hospitals, the medical infrastructure behind the
immediate carers is also being loaded and if the trend continues, only serious
cases will be admitted.

Meanwhile, new quarantines are scheduled to go into effect
on Aug. 24 and will last for 14 days. These quarantines will take hold in some
districts across Ukraine, but not in any major cities.

James Hydzik: With the Independence Day holiday coming on Aug. 24 and the large
number of people trekking to their summer homes and cottages, enlarging the
quarantine by anything more than the bare minimum would in all likelihood have
prompted civil disobedience, or at least a stampede, as summer winds down.
However, the return to a quarantine is expected sooner or later, as numbers
continue to climb and primary and secondary schools begin the school year on
Sept. 1, though many universities have already switched to remote-only
education.