Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – November 23, 2020
23.11.2020
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 in Kyiv remains worrying. 60,218 Kyivans have been tested positive for COVID-19 so far, with 1,212 new cases over the past 24 hours. They include 721 women (age range 19-94), 435 men (19-92 years old) and 56 children. There are also 44 health workers.
1,143 people have died, 20 of them in the past 24 hours. Two more recovered overnight to bring the total number of recoveries to 20,744.
The majority of overnight cases, 376 come from Desniansky district.
And this is the first time in Kyiv that coronavirus hospitalisations are reaching a record high. 112 patients were admitted to the city’s hospitals overnight. Today, a total of 2,069 patients including 26 children are taken to hospitals with confirmed coronavirus diagnosis so far. 827 patients are very ill, 1,092 are under oxygen therapy and 30 put on invasive ventilators.
Kyiv faces growing numbers of virus-related deaths over the last few weeks. A total of 496 women and 647 men have died in Kyiv since the beginning of the outbreak. People aged over 65 account for 71% of the coronavirus fatalities in Kyiv. Patients aged 50-65 represent 23% of all death cases. The majority of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Kyiv are people with pre-existing health problems: diabetes, heart disease or obesity.
Ignored symptoms and waiting until it is already too late are key reasons for the complicated disease course and high death toll. Because unfortunately, the majority of people are not seeking medical care until the 7th or 8th day of their illness and waste precious time. Physicians urge not to delay seeking medical care or try self-medicating. Let us all follow their recommendations and observe the basic health precautions.
Another much-talked-about issue is the situation in schools. Eight schools and four kindergartens are placed under quarantine. 1,166 school students and 790 teachers are active coronavirus cases so far in Kyiv. Currently, 1,016 classes in 272 schools continue learning remotely. 176 nursery groups in 135 kindergartens are temporarily closed due to the detected infections. Attendance rate is over 46%.
I am often asked whether the municipality plans to have mass testing in Kyiv. Let me stress that no large country rolls out population-wide testing because this is a very challenging procedure for laboratories which will have to process a huge amount of collected samples.
People with COVID-19 symptoms are eligible for free testing at the state testing facilities, but only medical professionals can decide who should get tested. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms should call a primary care physician who will decide whether a test is needed.
Please remember that at first sight of symptoms you should avoid going out in public and call your family doctor who must send a mobile response group to collect your samples for a PCR test.
The testing capacity for COVID-19 is already the highest in Ukraine and exceeds 350 tests performed per 100,000 population.
Since the beginning of the outbreak in Kyiv, the municipal diagnostic facilities have conducted some 227,000 PCR tests and almost 80,000 antibody tests. About 139,000 Kyivans have tested for the infection at home, with 65 overnight.
I am never getting tired of urging everyone to be careful and not to belittle the threat. I can tell from my own experience that COVID-19 is a nasty disease that causes fatigue and exhaustion. Please, remember to wear a facial mask, use sanitisers and observe physical distance and avoid mass gatherings!