Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – April 15, 2020
15.04.2020
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: The coronavirus situation remains dismal. There are 61 COVID-19 cases overnight. With this, the total number of positive coronavirus patients rose to 612. There are three more confirmed cases among medical staff and, regrettably, one more death.
The latest patients are 26 women (26 – 65 years old), 29 men (20-67 years old) and six children, four girls and two boys. There are 28 coronavirus hospitalisations among new cases, and these include three hospital admissions from Lavra.
The new cases include one more transmission in Lavra and three in Ionovsky monastery. Yesterday, absolutely all premises of Lavra were thoroughly sanitised. Medical staff proceeds with daily health check-ups among Lavra clerics and runs more PCR tests among them.
I am never getting tired of saying it once more: let it be at-home Easter! Please, avoid churches, picnics and gatherings. The virus is getting worse, there is an increase in COVID-19 cases. Do understand that the situation is serious and stop being so careless!
I would remind that the Kyiv COVID-19 Response Monitoring Centre has already made some 4,700 phone calls to inquire after people who are self-isolating right now, have returned from the coronavirus-hit countries and their close contacts.
The city government has tasked the primary care physicians and 15-51 Kyiv Contact Centre to monitor how Kyivans comply with stay home order and also provide medical guidance and psychological treatment to them.
The Centre’s online platform online соunsеllіng and emotional support proved very popular, over 12,000 people visited it so far. By the way, not only Kyivans seek help there, but also people throughout the country and abroad. Its main audience is still Kyiv residents (75%) but also Ukrainians from 12 regions and 14 countries.
The most popular platform search is online education courses and psychological counselling. About a half of the most common complaints relate to fear and anxiety about the pandemic outbreak and annoyance over plentiful bad information. 17% of the people have concerns about the online learning of their children and 15% turn for help with domestic violence. In response, the professional counsellors offer individual guidance to domestic abuse victims. Unfortunately, domestic violence is widespread in our society and we have to address it urgently and competently, especially now.
Now an issue that caused a public outcry and concerned me deeply. I mean, allegations of bribery against my first deputy Mykola Povoroznik. Yesterday Ukraine’s Security Service and the National Police held urgent inquiries into his alleged corruption.
I always warn all city government officials against bribes and corruption. I always emphasize: if you cannot resist the temptation and have no sense of responsibility, you do not want to work here!
The core principle that any government official, including me, willingly embraces is zero tolerance for corruption and fairness. Needless to say, that any official found guilty must be held accountable. I did not and will not cover up anybody!
But if the mentioned allegations are politically inspired to discredit the city government, I want to see the accountability of those behind the plot!
I demand a transparent and public inquiry, to prevent politically biased investigation!
According to the law, the responsibility to investigate allegedly corrupt top officials, such as the first deputy of the Kyiv State Administration head rests with the National Anti Corruption Bureau.
I appeal to the Bureau to investigate this case urgently and answer the questions of public concern. We all are looking forward to the fіndіngs of the іnquіrу that will set the record straight. One should be punished: either the corrupted official or those who fabricated the case.
Now a few words about a coronavirus PCR testing. PCR screening is available only for those who developed COVID-19 symptoms, have returned from abroad or have bееn іn contact with someone with the virus. Under the WHO recommendation, people are also given tests for other pathogens and then tested for COVID-19. Samples are processed by three facilities in Kyiv: Oleksandrivska hospital, the city hospital No. 4 and the Kyiv Central Laboratory under Ukraine’s Health Ministry. As of today, over 4,000 PCR tests have been conducted in Kyiv so far. We continue stockpiling PCR testing kits and reagents, primarily made in China and South Korea.
We have about 1,000 coronavirus PCR testing kits in Kyiv’s health facilities so far. Another batch comes today. Let me remind that PCR testing is an accurate and reliable method of coronavirus diagnostics, as it detects the virus genetic material in mucus samples. PCR tests are being done only in laboratories, equipped with the corresponding machinery.
We continue to closely watch the background radiation level. According to local and international experts, radiation does not exceed the normal level and is now 0,13 μSv/h (the normal background level is 0,3 μSv/h). Experts from the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety confirmed that there was no hike in radiation levels in Kyiv.
There are no open flames in Chornobyl’s exclusion zone now though there are still some smouldering parts of the forest floor. Massive fires have been raging there since April 4 and it will take about a week to inspect the damage and fully extinguish the smouldering grass. I want to say thank you to the Kyiv firefighters who were involved.
Yesterday the police arrested one more suspect who might have caused the wildfires. A local resident began a grass fire and failed to extinguish it when the flames began to spread further. As we see, a human carelessness can trigger catastrophic disasters, and the blaze n Chornobyl is no exception.