From Saturday, May 1, Kyiv plans to weaken quarantine restrictions, said mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko during a briefing.
“This morning, the State Commission on Environmental Safety, Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response of the city decided to weaken anti-epidemic measures in the capital. We hope that the State Commission will also decide to review the level of epidemic danger and withdraw the capital from the ‘red’ zone,” the mayor’s press service quoted him as saying.
Klitschko noted that from May 1, all ground public transport and the metro will restore passenger transportation in the usual mode.
“In compliance with previously defined anti-epidemic norms and rules. But I urge residents of the capital to use public transport only in case of emergency,” the mayor of Kyiv said.
He noted that from May 1, the operation of trade establishments, shopping and entertainment centers, markets, fairs, catering establishments, gyms and fitness centers will be restored.
“However, the owners of these establishments must understand that they work only in compliance with all safety standards! It is in your interests, because if the situation worsens again, new restrictions cannot be avoided!” stressed Klitschko.
The mayor of the capital also said that Administrative Service Centers will resume their work, however, they will host visitors by appointment through electronic services.
“From next Wednesday, May 5, the city will restore the educational process in general education institutions, preschool and higher educational institutions. Also, the capital will restore the acceptance of documents for enrolling children in the first grade for the next academic year,” the mayor of Kyiv said.
During the year of quarantine associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic from the beginning of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, the Ukrainian audience of social networks expanded by 7 million people, GlobalLogic said, citing the results of a study conducted on the basis of open data.
“At the beginning of 2020, there were 19 million users [of social networks] in Ukraine. In 2021, the figure reached 26 million. At the same time, the penetration of social networks has increased by half: now 60% of the country’s population is registered in them, while in January 2020 it was only over 40%,” GlobalLogic said in a report on Wednesday.
According to GlobalLogic, since 2019, the number of Ukrainians on Instagram has increased by 22% and on Facebook by 7%. Now they are used by 14 million and 16 million Ukrainians, respectively.
“Over the past year, the new social network TikTok reached 16% of users from Ukraine. Its growth was 500%. YouTube remains the most popular social network with coverage of 96% of users in Ukraine. On average, they spend about 40 minutes a day in the service,” GlobalLogic.
The number of Ukrainian Internet users, according to the company, also increased by 2 million, which is 33% more than in 2019, and at the beginning of 2021 was almost 30 million, that is, about 67% of the country’s population.
According to GlobalLogic, there are more Internet users not only in Ukraine, but also in the world: since 2019, their number has increased by 280 million.
In addition, due to the pandemic over the past year, people around the world have seen 57% more videos and movies, 37% more music and 15% more podcasts.
GlobalLogic used data from open sources such as Data Report, State Statistics Service, Kantar and PlusOne, as well as internal statistics, for its analysis.
In the evening of March 12, at a meeting of the regional commission of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster, Emergency Response, it was decided to put under quarantine the tourist complex Bukovel and restrict entry to the territory of Polianytsia territorial community, which only local residents or people who work there can freely move through, the local newspaper Halka reports.
“It was decided to terminate the activities of the Bukovel resort. Tourists will not be able to visit it. If you are a tourist, then you must understand that you are not going to Bukovel – you are going to the red quarantine zone, a high-risk zone. We are making such a forced decision, and probably not the last. After all, the red zone, in which we live, is growing, and we do not see a trend towards its decrease,” said head of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration Andriy Boichuk.
The new rules will take effect from 24:00 on March 13.
“As of today, 51 administrative protocols have been drawn up in Bukovel tourist complex: for lift operators, ski equipment rental points. Additional checkpoints will be introduced on the territory of Polianytska territorial community. Only local residents or those who have a place of work in this settlement will be able to move freely, subject to quarantine requirements,” said Volodymyr Holubosh, head of the Main Department of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Two thirds of hotels have reduced their expenses by headcount optimization, 27% of respondents have implemented alternative services and rented rooms as offices, according to the study entitled “Ukraine Hotel Market & COVID-19 Impact” conducted by the Ukrainian Hotel & Resort Association (UHRA) together with international tourism experts from Horwath HTL.
“Two-thirds of hotels have decided to reduce prices – an instinctive (yet not necessarily efficient) step to boost occupancy. One third of respondents introduced digital & marketing tools. Apparently, before the pandemic was not considered critical. Some 27% of respondents have introduced alternative services, i.e., co-working, renting rooms as offices, etc,” UHRA International Relations Director Ivan Lun told Interfax-Ukraine.
He added that some respondents (7%) decided to change the function of some areas, i.e. for a gambling facility.
Lun said that vast majority of respondents (93%) confirmed an overall drop in their revenues, and more than 60% of hotels had revenues shrink by more than 40%.
“Only 4% of hotels showed an increase in revenues, and 3% reported that it remained at the level of 2019. Hoteliers who reported growing revenues were all located in the countryside,” the expert said.
Despite a difficult year for the industry, only 2% reported that they are actively seeking exit by selling their hotels and over 90% responded that they will keep operating even with certain limitations.
According to Lun, almost a quarter of hoteliers (23%) expect their performance to return to 2019 levels in 2021; 57% – in 2022 and only slightly less than 20% – in 2023 or later.
Some 122 respondents have participated in the survey, with an average size of 72 rooms per property. Two thirds of the responses came from urban, while 34% from rural locations.
Kyiv will adhere to additional strengthened quarantine restrictions in order to save lives and prevent a possible collapse of the medical system, mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko has said.
“Kyiv, where the incidence rate remains high, is forced – whether we like it or not – to comply with a lockdown. Yes, the economic consequences of quarantine will be disappointing. We understand how difficult it is for business now … But today the main thing is the health and life of each of us, our relatives and friends, our friends, the health and lives of Ukrainians. It is very important to prevent a possible collapse of the medical system,” Klitschko wrote on his Facebook page.
The Mayor of Kyiv recalled that many other countries had previously introduced strict restrictions, and today they have also extended them.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has introduced changes to decree of December 9, 2020 No. 1236 “On the establishment of quarantine and the introduction of restrictive anti-epidemic measures in order to prevent the spread in Ukraine of the acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus” that lax trade.
Corresponding decree of January 5, 2021 No. 9 was published on the government website on Thursday evening.
In particular, according to the decree, the government allowed the sale of household chemicals, periodicals, collection and storage of waste.
