The decrease in the number of cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in Ukraine over the last three days has led to the stabilization of important indicators of the epidemic in Ukraine after a month of continuous growth.
According to the Health Ministry, in particular, the maximum average daily morbidity for two weeks in the first wave of the epidemic was 474 patients and was recorded on the day of the start easing lockdown, on May 10, and the second maximum of 547 patients was on June 29. There was a local minimum between them of 382 patients on May 29.
According to the Health Ministry, on May 29, Ukraine also reached the local minimum of a weekly average daily incidence of 375 patients after the first peak of 476 patients on early May. After almost a month of continuous growth, a new peak of 917 patients was reached on June 27.
These figures fell to 840 patients (an average figure over two weeks) and some 855 patients (an average figure over a week) by early July.
The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that the length of time between the moment of COVID-19 infecting and the symptoms onset is usually about five to six days, but can vary from one to 14 days. In almost all countries, the number of registered cases on weekend falls significantly for administrative reasons. Therefore, the world uses daily average morbidity diagrams for the last one and two weeks.
Among other indicators that have stabilized in recent days, the number of hospitalized people per day is the following: some 201 patients on average over a week and some 187 patients on average over two weeks, whereas before that they had almost continuously increased from 100 to 110 patients in late May and early June.
The growth of such indicator as the ratio of the number of cases to the number of PCR tests averaged over the week also stopped.
The graphs reflecting the number of deaths from COVID-19 disease are fluctuating strongly as before. On June 28, they reached their maximum indicator since the start of the epidemic, namely, almost 18 people on average over two weeks or more than 19 people on average over a week, but in the last three days they have been declining, having returned to the level of early May.
However, it is still not possible to stop another important plot – the number of people infected with COVID-19 at present.
As a result, Ukraine entered the government-defined “red” disease zone with over 40 patients per 100,000 populations with a current value of this indicator of about 58 patients.
Volumes of cargo transportation in Jan-Apr of 2020, Mln tons
Tenants during lockdown have the right to seek for a reduction in rent in court, but this procedure does not really work, Head of Omerta Organized Law Group Yevhen Fedoseyev has said.
“In case of refusal to reduce the rent, the tenant has the right to apply to court for a forced reduction of the rent. After the court decision comes into force, the rent will be reduced by a percentage and for the period that will be indicated in the court decision. But this procedure doesn’t work in practice, with a few exceptions,” he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on bill No. 3377 adopted at the final stage by parliament, which offers a mechanism to support tenants during lockdown.
“In order to be able to really reduce the rent or take vacations for the lockdown period, there must be an ideal and detailed lease agreement, which in most cases does not exist. As a rule, the lease agreement is formal,” he said.
Fedoseyev said that in many cases business entities that suspended activities due to lockdown are forced to apply to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for force majeure certificates.
He also said that currently, the regulatory framework does not provide a mechanism for determining the amount of preferential rents, in particular in situations where, due to circumstances for which the tenant is not responsible, the tenant is not able to use the property. According to the Civil Code, the tenant is exempt from payment for the entire time during which the property could not be used by him due to circumstances for which he is not responsible.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), as part of a joint initiative with the European Commission – InnovFin Science, has agreed the issue of a loan of EUR 50 million for the UNIT.City innovative park.
According to a joint press release, the loan is provided as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and is managed by the EIB.
“Ukraine and more specifically the Kyiv urban area lack a proper ecosystem for R&D and IT companies at all stages of development, from start-ups to expanding high-tech companies. With its dedicated InnovFin Science support, the EIB is now helping Ukraine to bridge this gap. This will strengthen the competitiveness of the country and its capital city and enable it to take full advantage of its skilled workforce,” EIB Vice President Lilyana Pavlova stated.
“The EIB credit line provides up to 10 tranches of at least EUR5 million each. The funds are allocated for nine years with a very competitive annual interest rate for Ukraine. Money will be allocated for the construction of new campuses of the innovation park – B15, B16, B17, U1 – with a total area of 70,000 square meters. The total cost of the project (including components financed by the EIB) is estimated at EUR 110 million. Thus, about half of the estimated costs will be financed by the EIB,” the report on the bank’s website says.
“The project promoter and the EIB loan borrower is Unit Holdings LLC, a company established by UFuture Group. The project is expected to be completed by 2023 and it will generate up to 2,400 temporary jobs and increase permanent employment within the promoter’s business by 549 full time jobs. Indirectly, the project will support around 15,000 jobs in the tenant companies present at the UNIT.City innovation park,” according to the report.
Israel has sent drinking water, tents and sleeping beds to Ukraine for the operations to clean up the aftermath of heavy floods in Ivano-Frankivsk region, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said.
“The State or Israel has sent aid to Ivano-Frankivsk region to help alleviate the impact of massive floods. Many thanks to Israeli friends for supporting Ukraine’s response to the natural disaster. We highly value your solidarity!” the minister said on his Twitter page on Wednesday.
Poland resumes flights with Ukraine from Wednesday, July 1.
This is codified in a decree of the Council of Ministers of Poland dated June 30, released on the government portal Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.
According to it, the ban on flights to Poland does not apply to the EU countries (with the exception of Sweden and Portugal), as well as Ukraine, Montenegro, Georgia, Japan, Canada, Albania and South Korea.
The decree will be valid from July 1 to July 14.
In turn, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport said on its website that Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has already resumed flights from Kyiv to Wroclaw, Warsaw and Krakow.
