The situation with the growing incidence of COVID-19 and the measures taken by the authorities to counter the pandemic were discussed by participants of a traditional conference call chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that last week the country recorded the largest number of new patients with COVID-19 per day this autumn - 23,785. In total, today there are 339.5 thousand active patients and 45,674 occupied beds. Also, the largest number of people was hospitalized last week - 33,551.
"At the same time, in a week the number of vaccinations exceeded one and a half million. This is a record. More than a million people received the first dose of the vaccine and almost 500,000 were vaccinated with the second dose," he said.
The head of government reminded that last week the State Commission on Technogenic and Ecological Safety and Emergencies introduced a "red" level of epidemic danger in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Sumy and Kherson regions. On October 26, the "red" zone will be introduced in the Rivne and Mykolaiv regions.
Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko noted that if we take into account the number of deaths per 100,000 population since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine's figures are lower than the European average, and among countries with a population of more than 10 million we are in 11th place.
According to him, the current death toll per 100,000 population in Ukraine is three times lower than the peak values that large European countries have already passed.
The Minister of Health noted that due to the increase in the incidence of COVID-19, there is an increase in the use of oxygen in hospitals. He reported on the measures taken by the Cabinet of Ministers to ensure the uninterrupted supply of oxygen to medical facilities. In addition, Viktor Lyashko said that the National Health Insurance Fund will increase the tariff for hospitals providing care to patients with COVID-19 disease, as the relevant package of services also includes providing patients with oxygen support.
The parties also discussed the deployment of additional beds in medical facilities to provide care to hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed government officials to communicate more actively with the population about the real objective situation with the spread of COVID-19 disease and the measures to be taken by the state and citizens to combat it and minimize the negative consequences.
The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police reported on the situation with inspections of compliance with the new quarantine norms of interregional transportation. Law enforcement officers actively oppose the forgery of COVID certificates and PCR tests, for which criminal liability is stipulated.