Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said that a lockdown due to the omicron coronavirus strain is not envisaged in Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Health reported.
“There will be no lockdown. We work in an adaptive quarantine that provides for a ‘red zone,” the press service of the Ministry of Health quoted Liashko as saying.
It is reported that at present there are enough vaccines against coronavirus in the country, so it is inappropriate to talk about tightening quarantine measures.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health notes that as soon as the vaccination rate reaches 70%, adaptive quarantine will also end.
The lockdown in Kyiv will last at least a month, as the COVID-19 epidemic in the Ukrainian capital is yet to reach its peak, the press service for Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
“Everything depends on the pace of COVID-19 spread and the occupancy of hospital beds. But specialists have tentatively said that this increasingly challenging period may continue for at least a month,” Klitschko told the Ukraine 24 television channel.
However, if COVID-19 morbidity rates begin declining in two-three weeks and the city again falls under the orange zone criteria, the city’s emergency commission may agree to ease some restrictions, the mayor said.
“But, unfortunately, there is no such tendency today. And, as specialists, virologists and doctors have noted, we have yet to reach its peak. Therefore, I once again call on all residents to be careful, to comply with the key safety rules and to get vaccinated!” he said.
The city is currently coping with another COVID-19 peak, he said.
“We are supplying hospitals with all necessary equipment, medications and are paying bonuses to medics. More than 6,000 hospital beds have already been prepared in Kyiv. And we are continuing to increase their number. The hospitals are 70% full,” Klitschko said.
Kyiv has a stockpile of liquid oxygen, but the city authorities have signed preliminary contracts on its supply with different enterprises, he said.
However, problems may occur if the number of patients in need of oxygen support grows, he said.
“The situation is now difficult, but stable and is under control. What counts most is to prevent an explosive growth of infections, when the number of patients will exceed the number of hospital beds. This could lead to a collapse of the healthcare system,” the mayor said.
The intensive care units in Kyiv’s hospitals are almost full, but there are still some available beds, he said.
Introduced from November 1, the lockdown in Kyiv will be valid for the unvaccinated, mayor of the city Vitali Klitschko has said.
“From November 1, the Ukrainian capital is included in the ‘red zone’ […] We are counting on clear interaction with the police. To monitor compliance with the key rules: both for travel in transport and for visiting various establishments. I want to emphasize once again that today the lockdown in Kyiv will be valid for those people who are not vaccinated,” the press service of Klitschko quotes his words, said on the air of the Freedom of Speech program with Savik Shuster on the Ukraine TV channel on Friday.
According to him, there is very disappointing statistics in Kyiv – 40-50 people died every day over the past week. Statistics will be released on Saturday that 54 people have died over the past day. “The situation is very difficult. And we are doing everything possible to help doctors from the capital’s budget, motivating them. We buy oxygen. As of today, we have no problems with provision to hospitals,” Klitschko said.
At the same time, he noted that the Ukrainian capital today is the leader in vaccination among other Ukrainian cities and regions. In total, since the beginning of the vaccination campaign in the Ukrainian capital, about 2.200 million vaccinations have been carried out.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said the government has no plans to introduce a full lockdown across the country.
“We do not plan to introduce a full lockdown across the country and stop the economy. But as the president said: the only alternative to lockdown is precisely mass vaccination,” Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
The prime minister also said that several more regions may soon fall into the “red” zone.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) is investigating the formation of prices in the transportation market due to a sharp price rise for the services of the main players in the taxi market on the first day of lockdown, Head of the Northern Territorial Branch of the AMCU Oleksiy Khmelnytsky said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
He said that on the first day of lockdown, the prices for taxi services of the three largest organizers of transportation via mobile applications simultaneously increased by 3-4 times, which is unacceptable.
“Already in the evening of April 6, taxi prices fell noticeably. It should be noted that the demand did not decrease [there were no less trips, the demand was constant] and lockdown was not canceled. This is the reaction of these companies to the indignation of Kyiv residents, the media and the AMCU’s reaction. I am convinced that companies can adjust prices on their own, not only automatically, given the critical situation with COVID-19 in Kyiv. Could there be any signs of violation of competition laws [on coordination of actions]? In my opinion, yes,” Khmelnytsky said.
He also said that the AMCU should definitely respond to a large number of appeals from Kyiv residents.
“We cannot ignore citizens’ appeals; that is why we launched our probe. This is the law […] In fact; the situation on the transport market [whatever you call it, for people it is taxi services] has not been studied by anyone. That is why we started the study. We will draw conclusions based on its findings,” he said.
At the same time, Khmelnytsky noted that the AMCU perfectly understands all the specifics of the work of programs and applications, which are rather difficult to control.
According to him, if, based on the findings of the study, the AMCU does not receive evidence of anticompetitive concerted actions of the largest market players, the committee will definitely inform about it.
“If we get evidence of a violation of competition legislation, we will open a case, make a decision and fine the violators. If it turns out that the legislation and rules do not correspond to modern technologies, we will turn to legislators with a proposal,” the head of the AMCU Northern Territorial Branch said.
As reported, on April 5, taking into account the imposition of strict quarantine, prices for taxi services, in particular in Kyiv, increased several times.
Bolt taxi ordering service (formerly Taxify) has decided to forcefully adjust the coefficient that affects the increase in cost during the period of increased demand.
Taxi ordering services Uklon and Uber told Interfax-Ukraine that their pricing systems depend on many factors, automatically taking into account the situation on the roads, weather conditions, demand and others.
ANTIMONOPOLY COMMITTEE, LOCKDOWN, TAXI, TAXI MARKET, TRANSPORT
Ukrainian shopping and entertainment centers for two weeks of January lockdown will not receive UAH 1.5-2 billion of lease payments, while the loss of their tenants’ turnover will amount to UAH 10-12 billion.
These data were announced by Head of the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers, Chief Operation Officer of Budhouse Group Maksym Havriushyn.
“January for most of the tenants of the shopping centers has always been far from the most profitable month. According to our calculations, tenants of the shopping centers as a whole will lose UAH 10-12 billion in turnover in the two weeks of January quarantine. Shopping centers will lose about UAH 1.5-2 billion of rental income,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Havriushyn, if the lockdown had been introduced at the end of December, the losses would have been doubled.
During the January lockdown, as well as during the spring one in 2020, the shopping and entertainment centers in Ukraine will not charge lease payments for their tenants, whose work is prohibited by a government resolution, the head of council said.
“The market has already gained experience of working in such conditions. The approach will remain the same as during the spring quarantine of 2020. Only maintenance fees will remain. For tenants who will continue to work, conditions will be determined on an individual basis,” Havriushyn said.
