Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Briefing – October 28
28.10.2021
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’s news is upsetting. Every day the coronavirus situation in Kyiv is getting worse. For the fourth day in a row, new cases are going upwards, with over 1,000 per day and up to 50 deaths. The fatality rate is quite high among young people. There is even a one-year-old baby who died from a coronavirus infection. The number of Covid-19 hospitalisations, particularly of those who require supplemental oxygen has also jumped. 84 per cent of patients are under oxygen therapy.
Altogether there are over 6,000 beds in dedicated coronavirus municipal hospitals, 90 per cent of them are oxygen-supported. Also, there are some 500 ventilators available in the hospitals. The current average bed occupancy rate reaches almost 63 per cent but some hospitals are already running at their capacity.
Beds that have access to piped oxygen are over 66 per cent full for the third day in a row which is one of the red zone indicators.
The responsibility of declaring a red zone in Kyiv rests with the National Emergency Commission and we urge the officials to take this decision. Still, the Kyiv government exercising its authority puts the restrictions into place starting from Monday, November 1.
In particular, a vaccination certificate or a negative Covid PCR test valid for 72 hours is mandatory for both staff and visitors of restaurants and cafes, shopping malls, gyms and athletics centres, hotels and hostels, nursing and children’s care homes, public administrative centres, departments of social welfare, work and pension. The same applies to mass gatherings. Children under 18 visiting shopping malls must be accompanied by an adult with a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test.
Public transport will operate as normal but again, a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test is mandatory for passengers and will be checked randomly by law enforcers.
After having consultations with the Ministry of Education and Healthcare Ministry, the municipality will not allow schools to resume classes as of November 1. They will continue distance learning until the situation gets better. This does not apply to kindergartens that operate as normal provided all their staff members are fully vaccinated.
There is no other alternative to save the health and life of people and prevent healthcare from collapsing but to impose those strict rules. Please, ignore anti-vaccine propaganda and get vaccinated to protect yourself and your loved ones! A vaccine is the only way to stop the crisis.
I will update you on the latest developments. Please, take care and stay safe and healthy!