Ukraine Moves to COVID-19 Second Stage Response

Ukraine is moving to the second stage response to the spread of COVID-19 due to the sharp surge of incidences of the disease. The Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Lyashko announced this following meetings with the heads of regional administrations chaired by the President.

“Starting from Monday, all the scheduled surgeries and planned hospitalisations are prohibited in our hospitals. Hospitals accept urgent patients and patients with COVID-19,” Lyashko said.

The number of beds for the patients is planned to increase to 80,000; 60,000 of them will be provided with oxygen within a month.

In the third stage, there are plans to set up field hospitals, but the authorities hope there will be no need for this.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 70% of hospital beds for patients with coronavirus are already packed in eight regions. In general, 62.4% of hospital beds for patients with COVID-19 are filled up in Ukraine.

At the same time, the National Health Service of Ukraine noted that the number of people hospitalised with coronavirus in October increased almost by 80% compared to September.

Earlier it was reported that the Ministry of Health plans to address the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with a proposal to introduce a so-called weekend quarantine in the country which provides for the intensification of anti-epidemic measures only on Saturday and Sunday.

Bohdan Marusyak