First phase of economic reboot planned for early May, Shmyhal

The Ukrainian government is trying to maintain a balance
between quarantine measures and supporting the economy, Prime Minister Denys
Shmyhal said in a video announcement published on his Telegram channel on Apr.
3. The relaxation of quarantine measures will occur in phases, he said, the
first of which will involve working-age people returning to their employment
and certain mass transit being renewed. “This will enable beginning the
economic reboot already at the start of May,” he said. This doesn’t mean the
weakening of other quarantine measures, he said, mentioning ongoing
restrictions on outdoor activity and the requirement of wearing masks outdoors,
particularly for children and seniors.

Stricter quarantine restrictions were introduced on
Apr. 6 in Ukraine, which include the requirements of wearing a mask in public,
carrying an identification document and not being outside with more than one
person, the Cabinet of Ministers announced on its website on Apr. 3. Groups of
people are allowing for state service or accompanying children, he said.
Visiting all public parks and recreation areas is also forbidden, he said. Even
stricter measures are under consideration, said on Apr. 5 Kyiv Mayor Vitali
Klitschko, including forbidding the use of private transport in the capital. As
of Apr. 4, the Kyiv City Administration required the taking of temperatures of
all drivers and passengers entering the capital, and even in stores where food
is sold.

The peak of coronavirus infection in Ukraine is likely
to begin Tuesday, Apr. 14 with the current quarantine restrictions, Chief
Medical Office of Ukraine Viktor Liashko told an Apr. 4 press briefing. “This
can lead to a large admission of seriously ill to healthcare facilities and a
large number of negative consequences, including lethal ones,” he said. Besides
having imported thousands of PCR tests from China and South Korea, Ukrainian
pharmaceutical manufacturers are producing between 2,000 and 7,000 tests daily,
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the secretary of the Coordination Council to Combat the
Spread of COVID-19, told a television talk show on Apr. 3. State healthcare
bodies will give the domestically produced tests, which are foolproof, priority
in procurement, he said.

As of noon, Apr. 6, 38 people have died of the
COVID-19 disease. An estimated 1,319 patients have been infected in Ukraine,
according to the Center for Public Health at the Health Ministry. An estimated
15 Ukrainians have recovered from COVID-19 while abroad, while five have
perished, the Foreign Ministry reported on Apr. 6 on its Telegram channel.
Nearly 11,000 Ukrainian citizens returned from being abroad on Apr. 4, the
State Border Service reported the next day.

Zenon Zawada: The
government seems to have a decent grip on the coronavirus so far, particularly
in planning for May to be the first phase of relaxing restrictions.  The
leaders seem to share our realization that severe restrictions beyond the
traditional “May holidays” will be highly resented by a population that wants
to work and earn income, whether in Ukraine or abroad. Some degree of foreign
travel will have to be restored by the end of May as well.

The closure of the border had been announced as of
Mar. 27, prompting thousands of Ukrainian citizens to pack transport and flood
border crossings to meet the deadline. And yet, another 11,000 returned this
weekend, at least. News reports of those returning on Mar. 27 and avoiding
airport screenings, including temperature checks, upset much of the public,
which itself has to cope with severe restrictions. Reports of more people
returning, with many thousands possibly eluding screenings, will only make the
public more impatient with restrictions.