Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – August 23, 2020
23.08.2020
The mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko held a briefing providing an update on the coronavirus situation in Ukraine’s capital and the measures the city is taking to respond.
Klitschko: A record daily jump in new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours made me hold a briefing on Sunday.
The situation is alarming, there are 307 new cases overnight, including 18 children! The daily number of patients who are admitted to hospitals is also growing.
A total of 11,814 Kyivans have been infected with the virus so far. 3,766 people successfully recovered, 84 of them overnight.
New cases are 152 women (aged 18-90), 137 men (19-88 years old) and, as I said, 18 children. There are eight positive cases among medical staff. 56 patients were hospitalised in the past 24 hours.
The infection rate is rising across the city, but Desniansky district is the most affected, with 52 more virus transmissions overnight. Shevchenkivsky, Solomiansky and Dniprovsky districts each have 34 new cases.
I do not want to scare you but the current situation is not simple. The infection spike may lead to a collapse of public healthcare, something we cannot allow to happen. We again will face stricter restrictions and a deep economic crisis.
The second wave municipal hospitals are ready to admit new CODID-19 patients. And as I have said earlier, the first wave health facilities are almost fully converted today into coronavirus hospitals.
As of today, there are 558 coronavirus in-patients, including 15 children. 105 of them are in the intensive therapy units and nine are put on a ventilator. More 75 patients have suspected COVID-19 diagnosis. In total, 748 people have been hospitalised with pneumonia, 74 of them in the past 24 hours.
All of us must comprehend the reality of the threat and stop acting as if the infection does not exist. We all have to obey the official health recommendations. Those rules are simple but they work. Regular hand-washing and using hand sanitisers, wearing masks and observing physical distance in public places, avoiding mass gatherings do prevent the infection.
Opting to ignore those basic things means the tightened restrictions: suspension of public transportation, closed kindergartens and schools, paused business.
How can anyone protect us if we do not want to keep safe? If we do not want to take care of our health? Please, keep this thought in mind! Please, be cautious and stay safe and healthy!