Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – April 1, 2020
01.04.2020
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: Today is April 1, but we all are in no mood for jokes… I don’t want to scare you, but coronavirus is spreading now really fast. The total number of infected people rose to 132, with 25 more cases over the past 24 hours! New cases are 12 males (aged 23-71 years), 12 females (aged 21-80 years) and a baby girl, who has recently turned one year old. 15 patients were hospitalized and 10 are recovering at home.
Sadly, but more than half of newly confirmed cases are due to community transmission. Which means, the coronavirus is spreading widely within the city’s community.
My firm belief is, the imposed restrictions in Kyiv came before it was too late, even though many Kyivans complained about them. Had we not placed them, the situation would have looked quite different.
I want to say to all those ‘I will escape’ guys: do come down to earth! Just stop strolling around the city! Don’t ignore the rules aimed at ensuring your own safety!
Amid the talks of possible food markets reopening which was initiated by Ukraine’s Health Ministry, I want to stress that we don’t соntеmрlаtе lifting a ban at the moment. Food markets will reopen only when the situation gets better. With groceries and supermarkets open in Kyiv, there is no food shortage. And don’t forget that the coronavirus outbreak started very likely in Wunah’s market!
Responding to the outbreak of COVID-19 we will continue to supply the protective gear, medications and equipment to the municipal hospitals and medical staff. At this point, Kyiv’s hospitals designated to deal with COVID-10 are well equipped, but the supplies are running out fast and we do everything to stockpile them. For example, today hospitals received 400,000 facial masks and a batch of medical supplies. More protective equipment, respirators and testing kits will be available for the Kyiv medics shortly. Currently, there are 380 ventilators in 78 intensive care units across the city and we ordered 17 more.
I am fully aware of suррly рrоblеms. It is true, the situation with medical supplies, their transportation and price gouging is serious. But the same prоblem hарреns еvеn іn the United States, Germany, Spain and Italy. We are doing everything we can to handle the outbreak. And we do not try to smooth the things over.
I will never get tired of thanking our health workers – doctors and nurses who keep working hard to save our lives. They are the ones who face the toughest and most dangerous challenges today. Unfortunately, not all city hospitals have seen renovation so far, but over the past few years we have upgraded quite a lot of them and will continue to do so. As I have said previously, the city has reallocated resources to increase spending on public healthcare and will spend about ₴894 million on a pay increase for the medical staff of all municipal hospitals. As from April medics of dedicated coronavirus hospitals will еаrn an extra ₴5,000 – ₴10,000 per month.
Ukraine’s small cities and towns will most likely be hardest-hit by the virus and their mayors and senior officials are responding accordingly. By the way, today I spoke on the phone to the mayor of Monastyrysko in Ternopil region who is the first mayor in Ukraine to be infected. He feels good and continues to work from home.
I am greatly thankful to the socially responsible businesses which contribute their ideas, funds and resources to support the community. For instance, Shuttle Heroes service has launched a free transportation for the Kyiv medics who can now book a place in a shuttle vehicle through Uber and Uber Shuttle applications. The routes connect the dedicated coronavirus clinics and some city’s neighbourhoods.
The city must function even during the pandemic, so we continue with our plans to upgrade the infrastructure. We are making good progress on some road repair projects: Shulyavski overpass, Borschahivsky overpass, Podilsko-Voskresenskiy Bridge
As you know, all public kindergartens, schools and universities are remaining shut. A decision to resume classes rests with Ukraine’s Education Ministry. The capital city helps keep children learning and sets an example in providing online learning. We engaged 40 teachers from the municipal schools who created online video lessons. Four live lectures are aired every day by Kyiv, the public TV channel. There are over 40 lessons available at the moment on the website of the channel and YouTube. The state education authority follows our lead and will broadcast lessons under Ukraine’s School Online project.
The city develops further strategies to be able to change our coronavirus response any time. And I call on the national government to take legislative measures that will enable local governments to impose tougher restrictions! Do limit access to parks, squares and playgrounds!