Ukraine intensifies quarantine measures as hospitals come under pressure

Ukraine intensified its quarantine/lockdown measures this
weekend after rising COVID-19 infection rates and concerns raised by Kyiv Mayor
Vitali Klitschko of hospital beds running out. The occupancy rate in Kyiv was
more than 70% the morning of Oct. 9, prompting Klitschko to request more beds
and doctors in an appeal submitted that day to the prime minister and health
minister. In response, President Zelensky ordered on Oct. 11 that the cities of
Kyiv, Odesa and Mariupol begin preparing large venues, such as the Sports
Palace in Kyiv, to serve as hospitals for COVID-19 patients. The order
earmarked funds to buy medical equipment with, said Mykhaylo Radutskiy, the
head of the parliamentary medical committee. “There isn’t such a necessity so
far, but we are supposed to be fully ready,” he said.

The most significant quarantine measures involve
closing high school buildings between Oct. 15 and 30, requiring students to
participate in class from home. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry recommended
on Oct. 11 that college and university students vacate their residence halls
and study from home between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15. The cities with the most
universities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, have also been among the most hardest hit by
the COVID-19 disease. On Oct. 11, PM Shmyhal called upon these two largest
cities, as well as the regional center of Sumy, to intensify their
quarantine/lockdown measures as of today.

The Lviv region is catastrophically lacking doctors to
handle COVID-19 patients, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 8, quoting a
doctor in a rural hospital that was earmarked for 100 patients but is treating
106. Many of those patients struggling are in their 30s, and an increasing
number of them need expensive medications, she said. “The virus is becoming
more aggressive and more difficult to deal with. There is a similar situation
across entire Ukraine,” she said, adding that hospitals have run out of funds
to provide drugs, forcing patients in some areas to buy their own.

New infections of the COVID-19 disease caused by the
coronavirus reached 4,420 on Oct. 11, the Health Ministry reported this
morning. That’s compared to 4,768 on Oct. 10, 5,728 on Oct. 9 and a daily
record of 5,804 set on Oct. 8. An estimated 43 people died on Oct. 11, compared
to 85 on Oct. 10, a record 108 deaths on Oct. 9 and 89 on Oct. 8. A record 990
hospitalizations were also reported on Oct. 9.

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine is now making global headlines for most infected COVID-19
countries, which clearly isn’t positive for its image, nor prospects for
renewed travel to other countries (including the EU). Nor is it positive that
the medical system is becoming overwhelmed, not only with depleting hospital
beds, but with lacking doctors. These are setbacks – hurting the country
economically for the year’s remainder – that essentially nullify the success
achieved by the Zelensky administration in the first months of the virus.