Sociologists have conducted a survey among Ukrainians, during which they suggested choosing which of the allegations about the origin of coronavirus and its worldwide spread is true to a greater extent. Some 66% of respondents believe in the artificial origin of coronavirus.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in late May – early June asked respondents of the survey to choose among the following options: (1) natural occurrence and subsequently spread in the world; (2) artificial development in the laboratory, but random distribution in the world; (3) special development and deliberate distribution in the world to reduce the population and/or damage to individual countries. In addition, respondents could name their option.
Most respondents – one in three, 37% – chose the option that the coronavirus was “specially designed and intentionally distributed in the world to reduce the population and/or damage individual countries.” Another 29% chose the option that the coronavirus “was made artificially in the laboratory, but its worldwide spread was an accident.”
Only 18% chose the option that the coronavirus appeared naturally and then spread worldwide.
Respondents who chose the option of artificial origin, but accidentally distributed in the world, were asked the additional question “In which country, in your opinion, was the coronavirus artificially made?” The question was posed in an open form, that is, the respondent was not offered any answers.
“The vast majority of respondents (70%) believe that coronavirus was artificially developed in China. Another 5% called the United States, and 3% called Russia.
At the same time, respondents who chose the option “coronavirus was specially designed and intentionally distributed in the world to reduce the population and/or damage to individual countries” asked an additional question: “Who, in your opinion, is responsible for the development and intentional spread of coronavirus?” The question was also posed in an open form, that is, the respondent was not offered any answers.
“Half of the respondents (49%) found it difficult to answer the question. However, 26% believed that China was responsible for the development and deliberate distribution of coronavirus. The United States (11%) and Russia (with 2%) followed. Other answers were less common,” the information says.
KIIS conducted a CATI survey (using a computer assisted telephone interviews) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers from May 31 to June 4, 2020. The sample is representative of the adult population (aged 18 years and older) of Ukraine. The sample does not include Russia-occupied areas in Donbas and Crimea.
During the survey, 2,000 interviews were conducted. The statistical error of the sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed: 2.2% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.4% – for indicators close to 10%.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he himself is not afraid of the coronavirus, and that even wanted to fall ill with the disease in order to show Ukrainians what it is like, but later abandoned the idea. “I wanted to go through it myself. To make it easier for people. Once when we were all depressed, we got together and I suggested, ‘Let me fall ill with the disease and immediately isolate myself at Bankova [the street on which the President’s Office is located]. I will survive the disease and show people what it is like. I wanted to do this so people would understand it is not the plague and that we will all die [of COVID-19],” Zelensky said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda ezine on June 3-4.
The president said he later abandoned the idea because “it was too much.”
“It was not difficult to do. But, of course, my family wouldn’t have forgiven me. They would have said I am crazy. And, in principle, they would have been right,” the president said.
Ukrainian legislation should enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to buy a license for the production of a COVID-19 vaccine, which can be developed by foreign companies, Head of the supervisory board of JSC Farmak (Kyiv) Filya Zhebrovska has said.
“Ukrainian legislation should provide an opportunity so that we can buy or use a license, possibly pay royalties, so that we have the opportunity to produce this vaccine,” the company’s press service reported, quoting her as saying.
Zhebrovska said that the possibility of buying a license to produce a COVID-19 vaccine at Ukrainian production facilities will reduce the price of this vaccine by 15-20% compared with the purchase of the finished product.
As reported, Farmak does not rule out the possibility of joining a consortium, which the European Investment Bank (EIB), together with WHO, created to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. The EIB allocated EUR 7.6 billion to this consortium.
In the middle of May, Farmak, as part of international research, began the third phase of clinical trials of the Amizon drug (Enisamium) in fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine.
Farmak is the leader in the pharmaceutical market with a share of 5.9% in monetary terms. The company annually reinvests of approximately 95% of the profits in its development.
Farmak is a member of the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine association.
According to the public register, the ultimate beneficial owner of PJSC Farmak is Zhebrovska, who holds 80% of shares in the company.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a trend in number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country is optimistic, however one should not be careless about the infection. The president’s press service said that on Tuesday, during a regular meeting on the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the head of state was informed that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Ukraine in the past 24 hours was 260 and 356 patients have recovered.
“The coronavirus epidemic has forced us all to make new decisions and accept new living conditions. All countries in the world have revised their approaches. Today’s trend in the number of those who fell ill and those who recovered inspires hope that we have passed the first challenges with dignity. However, this does not mean that we should be careless with coronavirus infection. We will do everything to guarantee the safety of Ukrainians,” Zelensky said.
Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov informed the president that so far almost all regions have paid 300% bonuses to medical workers who worked with COVID-19 patients in March. Three regions will resolve this issue in the coming days.
Also, some regions have already started paying bonuses for April, and by the end of the week the Cabinet of Ministers expects a significant increase in the number of agreements with the National Health Service, which is necessary to make these payments.
The biopharmaceutical company Biopharma begins to conduct EIA (enzyme immunoassay) tests for availability of COVID-19 antibody assay for all plasma donors, EIA testing will identify those who have the disease in a latent form.
“Biopharma purchased 12,000 EIA tests manufactured by Roche and on May 18 we will begin testing donors for antibodies on our hardware base,” Kostiantyn Yefymenko, the co-owner of the company, said on his Facebook page.
He recalled that Biopharma has begun collecting plasma from donors who have undergone COVID-19.
“The first liters of such plasma have already been prepared, and our team is doing a very difficult job. We understood that it would not be easy. Very difficult,” he wrote.
Yefymenko noted that the number of potential donors is very limited. So, out of 4,700 people who recovered (at the time of publishing the post of Yefymenko) in Ukraine, 40% are older than 60 years and cannot be donors, 20% cannot be donors according to their indications.
“There remain 1,800 people in a large, forty-million country, who need to be found, and not all, but volunteers who are ready to become a donor,” he explained.
As reported, Biopharma has begun the development of a hyperimmune immunoglobulin based on plasma of people who had COVID-19, this drug can be effective for specific treatment of COVID-19.
Biopharma is a Ukrainian biotechnology company, the only plant in Eastern Europe that has modern technology, has been manufacturing and developing drugs from donated plasma for almost 50 years.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has included all airports in the Kyiv and Chernivtsi regions in the list of airports located in the affected areas with a high risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection.
According to a message published on the EASA website on May 12, the list of risky airports was developed in coordination with EASA member states and is based on information from the World Health Organization, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and other reputable public health institutes.
The updated list takes effect on May 14. In total, airports from 32 countries of the world, including in the United States, Russia and Great Britain, were included in the risk list.
