Kyiv Mayor’s Coronavirus Update – September 23, 2020
23.09.2020
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: Unfortunately, the number of new coronavirus cases is not dropping in Kyiv. Over the past 24 hours 307 more persons tеstеd pоsіtіvе for COVID-19, including 37 children. Among them are also 161 women (age range 21-90 years) and 109 men (18-93 years old). New cases also include nine medical care workers. 37 patients are hospitalised.
The number of recoveries rose by 114 overnight, raising their total number to 6,043. Five more people died bringing the death toll to 330.
Currently, the total of coronavirus cases in Kyiv stands at 20,335.
The highest number of new infections, 58 came from Desniansky district.
The municipality continues to increase the testing capacity for the coronavirus, which is already the highest across Ukraine. Now this rate stands at 258 tests performed per 100,000 population.
Since the start of the pandemic, the five municipal laboratories have conducted over 125,000 PCR tests and about 22,500 antibody tests. In total, over 78,000 Kyivans have tested for the infection at home, with 1,322 overnight.
The Kyiv Central Laboratory under Ukraine’s Health Ministry processes an average of 1,000 tests per day. Four other municipal laboratories conduct express testing for patients with symptoms. The tests are being run also by 14 privately-owned and state health facilities.
I am often asked why it takes so long to get the results of COVID-19 tests. Normally people with mild symptoms recovering at home receive the results in five days. But we are working to expand Kyiv’s laboratory network to increase the amount of PCR testing, in particular for hospitalised patients.
Now a few words about schools. 292 school students and 152 teachers are active coronavirus cases so far.
As of today, five schools are closed due to COVID-19 cases among staff in Shevchenkivsky, Darnytsky, Pechersky, Holosiivsky and Sviatoshynsky districts. Students from a total of 326 classes in 121 schools are staying in self-isolation.
15 kindergarten classes across the city and a kindergarten in Sviatoshynsky district are temporarily closed for quarantine. The current kindergarten attendance is over 54%.
Four preschools have reopened this week after closure for scheduled maintenance.
Also, in partnership with the Kyiv Teachers’ Labor Union, the municipal authority has bought almost 40,000 facial shields to distribute them among school staffers. Another 13,000 protective shields have been provided by the district authorities.
We work hard to protect Kyivans. Please, help us and do your part by following the health recommendations and staying safe.
Please do not ignore the rules! Stay healthy!