Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – April 21, 2020
21.04.2020
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: Over the Easter weekend, the number of infections has risen by 187 in Kyiv. 80 females and 102 males were proved positive. Among the new cases are five children (5-13 years old) and 20 medical workers and, sadly, four more deaths.
In total there are 892 laboratory tested COVID-19 cases in Kyiv so far. Women represent almost 44% of them, men account for over 56%. Out of 19 virus-related deaths, 13 were reported among men and six – among women.
50 patients were admitted to the city’s hospitals. Others are at home, under medical care.
The city government has allocated over ₴23 million to pay the front-line medics of the municipal hospitals their first monthly danger bonus which amounts nine times their average monthly wages. Accordingly, doctors who treat the coronavirus patients will earn additional ₴17,000 per month. The bonus will bring their salaries up to ₴50,000. Nurses and attendants will receive additional ₴13,000 and ₴11,000 respectively, so this month they will earn up to ₴30,000 and ₴25,000 respectively. Emergency medics and ambulance drivers will receive up to ₴10,000 raise this month. The city budget covers also the purchase of equipment, protective gear and medications that are used for coronavirus treatment.
I am delighted that the platform for online соunsеllіng and emotional support which has been recently launched by the Kyiv COVID-19 Response Monitoring Centre is becoming increasingly popular in other Ukrainian cities. Visitors from them constitute 25% of its daily audience. It is obvious, that free-of-charge psychological counselling must be available to all Ukrainians, particularly now. With this in mind, as the chairman of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, I want to help my colleagues from other cities and towns introduce similar local resource.
By the way, starting April 25, the Kyiv platform will introduce a virtual day centre, a new activity for kindergarten kids. We are committed to further extend its functionality and offer new services to make the platform a clever solution for all people seeking help.
I would like to address an issue that concerns people all over the world. When will restrictions be lifted or, at least, relaxed? When will our life go back to normal? Some European countries that have passed COVID-19 peak, are beginning to ease the restriction measures, but very carefully and slowly. I stay in touch with the mayors of EU cities and leaders of some countries to learn about their plans.
Kyiv also starts thinking about easing the restrictions. We understand that businesses have to reopen to help revive the economy. The city must develop despite the outbreak.
Let me stress that the lockdown will remain in place until we know that the реаk іs оvеr. Only then we will take the first tеntаtіvе steps to relax the curfew. The most important question, for now, is to when we will reach the peak of the outbreak and how grim it will look.
As you know, the city government asked Kyivans to celebrate Easter at home. And I am deeply grateful that they mostly cooperated. There were no massive gatherings of churchgoers. The police will continue to patrol the church grounds for this week. Cemeteries will remain closed for visitation, as well as Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra which is undergoing daily sanitisation. Over Easter weekend some 60 people with signs of fever, travelling to Kyiv have been detected at nine city’s entry points. All of them were denied entry.
Please, keep in mind that COVID-19 is a highly contagious and dangerous disease. There are still neither vaccine nor medication against it. So please, take it seriously and respect the restriction rules that are still in place! They are aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus!
I am urging everyone to stay responsible and not to endanger people around.
Finally, some words about air pollution. For a week Kyiv remained the most polluted city in the world. The haze was caused by the wildfires in Chornobyl, fires in peatlands and massive forest fires in Zhytomyr region. Mainly they happened due to human carelessness and irresponsibility. Over the past month, there were over 400 local fire incidents!
Now the situation somewhat improved. As far as I know, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has formed an arson prevention special force, and the National Guards started an anti-sabotage raid to combat the fires and investigate the arsonists.
I want to say thank you to people who inform the police about any cases of fire setting. This is my firm belief, that the offenders must be severely punished.