Ukrainian COVID-related hospitalization rises outstrip testing increases

In Ukraine, COVID-related hospitalizations have
increased greatly compared to the increase of testing for COVID-19, Health
Minister Maksym Stepanov announced at his Aug. 31 press conference. Compared to
the week of May 18-24, the week of Aug. 17-23 saw 2.5 times more testing, but
almost four times more hospitalizations with 2829 new hospitalizations in the
last week, compared to 749 in the week in May. Currently, 9970 COVID-related
cases are hospitalized in Ukraine, out of 36,000 beds reserved across the country
for those with the disease.

Also, the Health Ministry updated its red and green
country lists for Ukrainians returning from abroad. The list determines whether
returning Ukrainians needed to self-quarantine or not. The Aug. 30 changes were
reported on the ministry’s website.

James Hydzik: The election campaign season will start with anything but the lightest
and most localized restrictions, and the hodge-podge of measures taken locally
or individually are likely to put a dent, but not sufficiently dampen the
spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine. For those not willing to risk voter popularity
with harsher measures, the period before the Oct 25. vote becomes a race
against time.