Additional strengthened quarantine restrictions began to operate to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine from 00:00 on Friday, January 8.
As reported, according to resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1236 of December 9, 2020, the lockdown will last until 00:00 on January 25, 2021.
During this period, the operation of cafes, restaurants and bars (except for delivery and takeaway), non-food stores, non-food markets, cinemas, fitness clubs, gyms, swimming pools, theaters and shopping centers is prohibited. Also, all educational institutions are placed on vacation, except for kindergartens and special educational institutions. In addition, all public events are prohibited.
During a lockdown, retail chains are allowed to sell food products, provided that at least 60% of their area is intended for food sales.
It is also allowed to trade in medicines, medical goods, hygiene products, communication equipment, veterinary drugs, feed, seeds, plant protection products, household chemicals and the printed press, trade in fuel.
According to decree No. 1236, trade in other groups of goods can only be carried out on condition of targeted delivery of orders.
It is also allowed “to carry out activities for the provision of financial services, activities of financial institutions and activities for the collection and transportation of currency values, the activities of postal operators, as well as medical practice, veterinary practice, the activities of gas stations (without food zones), activities for maintenance and repair vehicles, hairdressers and beauty salons by appointment.”
It is prohibited to conduct all mass (entertainment, sports, social, advertising and other) events (except for the organization of skiing leisure, but without the work of catering establishments and the sale of alcoholic beverages). At the same time, the ban also does not apply to the New Year and Christmas holidays (without concerts and fairs, including food fairs), official sports events included in the Unified Schedule of Physical Culture and Health and Sports Events of Ukraine and matches of team playing sports of professional sports clubs without spectators, provided that the participants of such events comply with the relevant sanitary and anti-epidemic measures and the implementation of mandatory daily monitoring of the health of the participants.
Also, the work of catering establishments and places for food in hotels is prohibited from 11:00 to 6:00 the next day, except for the provision of catering services in a hotel room at the request of customers.
Central and local executive authorities, other state bodies, from January 11 to January 22, 2021 inclusively, were instructed to establish a remote (home) work mode for employees, except for employees for whom it is impossible to establish a remote (home) work mode due to the nature of the performed tasks, and workers providing administrative services.
It is also recommended “to local government bodies, enterprises, institutions, organizations regardless of the form of ownership, except for institutions, regardless of the form of ownership, providing financial, banking and housing services, health protection, food supply, energy supply, water supply, communications, those that provide the functioning of the infrastructure of transport support, the sphere of defense, law and order and protection, critical infrastructure facilities, to establish a remote (home) work mode for workers in the period from January 11 to January 22, 2021, inclusively.”
Resolution No. 1236 also extended the quarantine regime in Ukraine until February 28, 2021. At the same time, planned hospitalizations in communal and state medical institutions are prohibited, the work of private clinics is not limited. Private medical institutions can carry out planned hospitalizations and operations in compliance with the necessary sanitary and epidemiological standards.
As mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said earlier, during the lockdown, public transport of the capital, including the metro, will work, but urged to use public transport only when it is necessary.
Arricano Real Estate Plc (Cyprus), the management company and developer of a number of shopping and entertainment centers in Ukraine, will limit the work of its trade centers in Kyiv, Zaporizhia and Kryvy Rih on weekends in accordance with the quarantine conditions until November 30.
According to a report from Arricano on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the mall will be open an hour longer on weekdays.
Such restrictions will not significantly affect the financial results, the company believes.
Arricano Real Estate Plc specializes in the construction of shopping and entertainment centers, and is one of the leading developers on the Ukrainian real estate market. It owns and operates five shopping centers in the country with a total area of 147,300 square meters, namely RayON and Prospect in Kyiv, Soniacha Halereya (Solar Gallery) in Kryvy Rih, City Mall in Zaporizhia. The company also owns 49.9% in Sky Mall (Kyiv).
New quarantine rules will take effect in the country from August 1, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“From August 1, new rules regarding quarantine restrictions begin to operate in Ukraine. We have made a distribution into four zones, each will have different restrictions. The softest will be in the ‘green’ zone – mask mode, keeping a distance, one person per 5 square meters at public events, when visiting cinemas and theaters, the occupancy of the hall is no more than 50%, in public transport transportation is exclusively within the seating area. Regarding the crossing of the border between the ‘red’ and ‘green’ zones within the country, traffic will be limited in the ‘red’ zone, appropriate posts will be set up at the crossing,” he said.
The minister stressed that new rules are introduced for the division of countries into “red” and “green” zones.
“Regarding the arrival from abroad from August 1, the statistics will be updated every seven days. We will also change the indicators – if we are currently measuring the number of active patients in the country, then from August 1 this will happen like in European countries. There will be two indicators – if the increase in patients over the past 14 days exceeds such an increase in the territory of Ukraine and if the percentage of increase in the last 14 days compared to the previous 14 days is more than 30 people,” Stepanov said.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expects in 2020, after the quarantine is over, a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council on Economic Cooperation and the holding of a common business forum.
“After the quarantine is over, we expect to hold a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic Cooperation and organize a joint business forum as part of the visit of Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte to Ukraine this year,” the government’s press service quoted Shmyhal as saying following a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia and a delegation of representatives of Italian companies operating in Ukraine.
The Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Mr. Davide La Cecilia, in turn, added that Ukraine is of interest for investors.
“Italy is one of Ukraine’s first commercial partners at the global and European level, and we have set a goal of increasing investment and deepening economic cooperation,” said Cecilia.
The parties agreed to intensify cooperation in various areas of the economy, in particular, in the development of energy, agribusiness and infrastructure.
The capital is planning to introduce the first phase of easing restrictive quarantine measures from May 12, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said.
“We are approaching May 12, the day from which we plan to introduce the first stage of easing restrictions in the capital. We plan to open in Kyiv: non-food stores (with a total area of up to 300 square meters), hairdresser and beauty salons (by appointment and not more than one client for each service at the same time), parks and squares, walks in groups with a limited number of people, small architectural forms, with the prohibition of the consumption of food and drinks on the spot, small-sized production facilities of non-food goods and consumer services (atelier, domestic services, etc.),” Klitschko said at a briefing on Friday.
According to him, lawyers and notaries, auditors, as well as drive-in theaters, open-air museums, and libraries will be able to work (so far only lending books service, without reading rooms).
The mayor said that compliance with safety rules by employees and visitors of institutions is required.
“Thermometry of employees and visitors is mandatory. Following safety rules is required. If a client has no mask, he either does not enter the room, or it is the responsibility of the service provider who must provide a client with a mask,” Klitschko said.
The mayor said that at the first stage of easing, large shopping and entertainment centers, as well as schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, coastal recreation areas will remain closed.
He said that ground-based public transport will work at the first stage of easing.
“That is for sure until May 22. However, we will increase the number of routes to those areas that are not currently covered. The increase in routes will concern electric vehicles, namely, trolleybuses and trams,” Klitschko said.
According to him, businesses that will begin work should solve the issue of bringing its employees to workplaces.
“Metro, as I have repeatedly said, will be opened by decision of the government. It will not be right away,” the mayor said.
According to him, at the first stage of easing restrictive measures, the government allowed the summer areas of cafes and restaurants to work. The capital’s emergency committee approved the conditions for their work on Friday.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that the relaxation of quarantine restrictions in the country should pass in a disciplined and gradual manner.
“Every day, the number of people who have recovered from coronavirus is growing steadily. This is a positive trend that adds optimism. At the same time, if we want to preserve all this, we should not relax, and should withdraw from quarantine in a disciplined and gradual manner,” he said in a video message to Ukrainians on Wednesday.
Zelensky recalled that the first quarantine mitigation would occur in five days.
