COVID-19: PM Shmyhal elaborates on quarantine curbs from Jan 25

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said the country is leaving the tough quarantine on January 25 and will return to the restrictions that were in force in December 2020.

"Epidemiologists record the stabilization of the situation with morbidity. The number of occupied hospital beds fell to less than 30%. At the same time, the government has recently significantly increased the number of beds with supplied oxygen: from 11,000 in September to 55,000 in January this year. Almost UAH 1.5 billion (US$53.2 million) was allocated for these purposes for the regions," he wrote on Facebook.

Read alsoPreliminary results: Minister Stepanov updates on impact of new lockdown on COVID-19 casesAt the same time, according to the prime minister, "leaving the tough quarantine does not mean the virus has disappeared." Therefore, he has urged all Ukrainians to continue to comply with anti-epidemic rules.

"We must remain vigilant and follow all the rules carefully. Face masks, distance, disinfection are the basics. Please take care of yourself and your relatives," Shmyhal added.

Tough quarantine in Ukraine

• The Ukrainian government on December 9 decided to put Ukraine on tough quarantine for the period from January 8 to January 24, 2021.
• From January 25 to February 28, quarantine restrictions of the orange zone will be in effect in Ukraine, as well as additional curbs introduced in December.

Read alsoTough quarantine helps curb COVID-19 in Ukraine – ministerThe bans will apply to:

• Events in educational facilities (performances, celebrations, concerts) with participating children from more than one group/class and audience;
• Festivities, banquets, master classes, public events in entertainment and catering establishments;
• Visitors in museums, exhibitions, galleries and the like, if there is more than one visitor per 10 sq. meters;
• Catering establishments – from 23:00 to 7:00 (except for delivery and take-out). Settlement transactions shall be terminated at 22:00;
• Religious events in indoor settings with more than one person per 5 sq. meters; and in open-air settings – if 1.5-m social distancing rule is not observed;
• Riding public transport and attending public settings without masks, as well as leaving home without an ID;
• Leaving the site designated for self-isolation or observation without proper authorization;
• Conducting mass events (including concerts), sports, social, advertising and other events in which more than 20 persons take part and the distance of 1.5 m between participants is not observed (exception: official and professional sports events without spectators on stands, examinations for notaries, and measures necessary to ensure continued operation of government bodies);
• Operations of cinemas and arts facilities with over 50% of seating capacity;
• Carrying passengers in public transport beyond seating capacity (except for subway);
• Operations of discos, night clubs, and catering establishments with leisure services;
• Catering establishments – if more than 4 adults are allowed per table and if social distancing rule of 2 meters between tables is not observed;
• Operations of businesses where employees are not provided with masks, no social distance markings (1.5 meters between customers) are installed, while customers fail to properly wear PPE;
• Border crossing for foreigners without a valid insurance policy (with certain exceptions);
• Accommodation services (except for hotels, rehabilitation centers for the disabled persons, and health resorts);
• Groups of over 20 people in educational facilities, except for preschool facilities and those of general secondary, extracurricular, and specialized art education;
• Visiting educational facilities in case if more than 50% of students and faculty have gone on self-isolation;
• Carrying out scheduled hospitalizations (except for palliative, prenatal, natal care, childbirth assistance, cancer treatment, highly specialized (tertiary) medical care, and other emergency care);
• Visiting gyms and fitness centers if there is more than one customer per 20 square meters;
• Visiting temporary detention centers, centers for holding foreigners and stateless persons, as well as accommodation facilities for refugees;
• Crossing at the checkpoints to the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea by foreigners without a valid insurance policy (with certain exceptions); and

• Visiting social security institutions where certain categories of citizens reside (elderly, war veterans, persons with disabilities, mental disorders, etc.) – except for authorized personnel.

COVID-19 in Ukraine: Latest developments

• Ukraine said 4,928 new active COVID-19 cases had been confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours as of January 23, 2021.
• The total number of confirmed cases grew to 1,187,897.