Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – March 16, 2021
16.03.2021
Klitschko: I have an important coronavirus update today. Over the past few weeks the number of new cases and hospital admissions has risen almost twice as much in Kyiv.
There are 999 new positive coronavirus cases overnight and the transmission dynamic is dangerous.
With this in mind, the municipality asks the national government to exert its authority and expand as well as tough up the restrictions set out for the Covid-19 orange zone. I urge the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Healthcare Ministry, the Ministry of Infrastructure and The National Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection to enforce the compliance with the epidemic requirements, including wearing face masks in public areas, limited occupant density during mass gatherings and sports competitions, limited working hours for shopping malls and entertainment facilities, cafes and restaurants, and limited seating capacity of the public transport. For instance, on Thursday Kyiv hosts a football game that will bring together up to 35,000 fans from all over the country. In this situation, it can easily become another Bukovel!
Also, the Kyiv municipal authority demands that the authority to impose the restrictions should be again delegated to local governments, since starting February 17 cities and towns are denied their right to do so.
Now last but not least. We have decided to begin spring vacation two days earlier than planned, on March 18. This will apply to all students of grade 5-11. The kindergartens and elementary schools will operate as normal.
Let me emphasize, the situation is quite worrying. More than 3,500 patients with confirmed and suspected coronavirus diagnosis are admitted to hospitals so far. 71 per cent of them are very ill and this is the most alarming trend for medical professionals since the beginning of the outbreak in Kyiv. If prevalence and hospital admissions remain at such a high level, our hospitals can run out of beds anytime. Moreover, despite the promise of the national government to convert additional 11,000 beds in the Kyiv-based national hospitals into coronavirus beds, until now healthcare facilities attached to a specific ministry and affiliated to the Academy of Medical Sciences remain unavailable for infected Kyivans.
I want to urge Kyivans to take their health seriously. It is much easier to wear facial masks and respect the restrictions than to cure the disease. Also, I urge the SMEs to stay responsible and comply with public health and safety guidelines. Otherwise, they will close again.