COVID-19: Health minister warns of difficult period by mid-April (Video)

Stepanov says up to 80% of beds with oxygen in Kyiv hospitals are filled now.

Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has warned of a difficult period over the coronavirus epidemic by the middle of April 2021.

"I think we will have such a difficult period by mid-April, it's 100%," he said during the Pravo Na Vladu ("Right to Power") TV panel show on 1+1 TV Channel on March 25, 2021.

Read alsoMP Radutsky: Peak of third COVID-19 wave expected in Ukraine in few weeksStepanov said the highest share of beds with oxygen occupied by COVID-19 patients was recorded in the city of Kyiv – up to 80%. The situation in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, and Zakarpattia regions has already stabilized: there is a decrease in the number of hospitalizations thanks to quarantine restrictions.

"After a while, we will transfer Ivano-Frankivsk region to the yellow risk level by indicators," the minister added.

Quarantine in Ukraine

  • On February 24, 2021, Ukraine imposed an adaptive quarantine, having divided regions according to color zones of epidemic risks.
  • On March 4, 2021, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country was entering the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic.
  • The Health Ministry predicts a surge in new COVID-19 cases by late April.
  • According to the Health Ministry, as of today, the city of Kyiv, as well as Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi regions are part of the red zone.
  • Only Kherson region belongs to the yellow zone now and the rest are part of the orange zone. Today there are no regions in the green zone.
  • As of March 26, 2021, some 18,132 new active COVID-19 cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, marking yet another highest daily rise, against 16,669 cases registered the day before.
  • The death toll has hit 31,461 with 326 fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours.
  • The total number of confirmed cases grew to 1,614,707.