Some Ukrainian regions about to leave 'red zone' – PM Shmyhal

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says some regions in central and western Ukraine are about to leave the so-called red zone introduced during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The official made the comment at an intercom meeting on anti-coronavirus efforts on April 19, the press service of the President's Office said on April 19.

Read alsoThird COVID-19 wave subsiding in Ukraine – Health ministry

According to Shmyhal, the number of new COVID-19 cases over the past week, or April 12-18, was 14,000 down from the previous week. So, certain regions are close to leaving the red zone, while the epidemiological situation in the capital city of Kyiv remains serious.

In general, 77,698 beds have been allocated in hospitals in Ukraine for COVID-19 patients; of them, 67,567 are supplied with oxygen. Some 44,415 beds are occupied for the time being, he said.

"Bed occupancy rates improved over the past three weeks. Also, weekly indicators show stability. As for the number of active [COVID-19] cases, growth rates have declined," he added.

Now the red zone includes the city of Kyiv and 12 regions, namely Zhytomyr, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Poltava, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky, Chernihiv, and Chernivtsi regions.

However, Kherson, Zakarpattia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions are in the yellow zone, while the remaining nine regions are part of the orange zone.

COVID-19 in Ukraine: Latest developments

• Ukraine said 6,506 new active COVID-19 cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours as of April 19, 2021.
• The total number of confirmed cases grew to 1,953,016.
• The total death toll has hit 40,000, including 214 fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours.
• On April 19, 2021, Director of the Ukrainian Health Ministry's Public Health Center Roman Rodyna said the third COVID-19 wave was subsiding in Ukraine.