Late April is new expected coronavirus peak in Ukraine, Zelensky says

The new expected peak of the coronavirus infection in
Ukraine is late April, Ukrainian President Zelensky said in a video
announcement broadcast on Apr. 14. “If Italy and Spain have already undergone,
or will undergo the peak of the pandemic, then the key, definite period for us
lies ahead. This is the 20-plus dates of April,” he said. For this reason,
Ukrainians must remain home for the Orthodox Easter holiday on Apr. 19. At the
same time, a “certain stabilization” has been achieved, analyzing the infection
rates in recent days, he said. “A sharp jump hasn’t occurred owing to the
consciousness of citizens, who are engaged in self-isolation. And this is worth
continuing. We need to clearly imagine that it’s too early to relax. Relaxing
is dangerous.” Recall, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko estimated on Apr.
14 the peak of coronavirus infections in Ukraine on Apr. 17-19.

At the same time, coronavirus infections demonstrated
a ñertain spike on Apr. 15, according to data published today by the Center for
Public Health of the Health Ministry. An estimated 392 new infections were
reported on Apr. 14, which is a record for a single day. That’s an 11.6%
increase from the prior day to 3,764 total infections. An estimated 10 people
died, raising the total number of fatalities by 10.2% to 108. About 85% of
fatalities are among people 50 years old and over. A total of 143 patients are
confirmed to have recovered. An estimated 2,145 patients are currently being
treated.

The renewal of airline flights to and from Ukraine
will occur in September-October in the pessimistic scenario, Pavlo Riabikin,
the general director of the Boryspil International Airport, said in an
interview with the epravda.com.ua news site published on Apr. 14. Air travel
will be resumed in phases, he said. “Probably, when the country understands
that the situation with the epidemic will be under control, domestic travel will
open at some moment,” he said. As for international flights, they will be
renewed based on the situation with the coronavirus and whether countries will
recognize the statistics of others, he said.

Zenon Zawada: This is the
latest of several incidents of conflicting reports from state officials (this
time, regarding the coronavirus peak dates). While these incidents haven’t
caused any major damage, they do reflect some lack of coordination at the
higher ranks. As for the 11.6% spike on Tuesday in coronavirus infections, it
is considerably less than the daily increases of 14% and higher in the prior
weeks. And it’s inevitable that the curve will have some bumps along the way.

As for the situation with air travel, we believe the
government will benefit greatly if it allows Ukrainians to begin returning to
their work in Europe in May. The big question is when European countries will
open their borders to them, especially with France extending its quarantine.
With air travel unlikely to be widely available, we believe most of those
wanting to return will gladly travel by train or bus.