Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – July 24, 2020
24.07.2020
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 total number of infected people rose to 7,396, with 118 more cases over the past 24 hours. 52 new cases are among femаlеs (aged 18-80) and 57 are among males (18-69 years old). Also, among the infected are nine children.13 patients were hospitalized.
Overnight there are 121 more recoveries, raising their total number to 2,667, and one more death.
Darnytsky city district has the highest infection rate, with 27 new cases.
Currently, there are 283 confirmed coronavirus hospitalisations in Kyiv, including 19 children. 38 patients were admitted to hospitals with the suspected diagnosis. 45 in-patients are very ill, in serious medical condition, two of them are on a ventilator.
The city is continuing with compliance checks. Last week a special commission consisting of the police officers, municipal guards and officials of the National Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection inspected over 460 restaurants, markets and shops. They issued 101 penalty notices, which is less than one week before. We see that mostly, the business is trying to comply with healthcare guidelines and act responsibly for the sake of the clients’ safety and health. But those who choose to arrogantly ignore the official health recommendation are subject to fines and shutdown.
The municipality continues to do everything possible to provide relief assistance to small and medium businesses. Yesterday the City Council supported my personal initiative to waive fees for outdoor permits for outdoor cafes and terraces as well as street trading kiosks, portable coffee shops and makeshift shops.
In partnership with the municipality, under the programme of affordable loans, the Entrepreneurship Development Foundation and some banks provide loans at up to 4.5% of annual interest for entrepreneurs and manufacturers based in Kyiv.
Together with the Kyiv Unemployment Centre, we provide unemployment benefits for the employees of SMEs and entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic. This has helped save almost 8,000 jobs.
At the beginning of the lockdown the city reduced rents on municipal properties to 50% and offered a rent holiday for properties which were temporarily closed due to the pandemic.
Now a few words about public safety in Kyiv. I have already asked the police and the State Security Service to increase the control on city streets, intensifying patrols and enforcing the law. I want Kyivans to feel safe, but we all see what is happening across Kyiv and Ukraine these days. Every day we receive hundreds of bomb threats and not all of them are empty threats. Cars and buildings are set on fire…
All those accidents are aimed at causing unrest and panic and we have to prevent such attempts. Public safety and security are one of our top priorities.