The situation with the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the readiness of medical institutions to work with an increasing number of patients, the fight against forgery of PCR tests and vaccination certificates were discussed at a conference call on countering the COVID-19 pandemic chaired by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that the number of patients with COVID-19 is currently growing. In the previous week, 64,606 cases of COVID-19 infection were registered, which is almost 20,000 more than a week earlier, he said.
"Today, the dynamics of the disease completely coincides with the previous peak incidence. Despite the fact that the growth of the sick and hospitalized has slowed down a bit, as of now 22.5 thousand beds are occupied by people with confirmed COVID-19 and with suspicion,” the head of government said.
Slightly less than 50% of the available beds for COVID-19 patients are currently occupied in Ukraine, but there are areas where the situation is of concern, said Denys Shmyhal.
According to the analysis of the Ministry of Health, the greatest number of infected is in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Odesa regions. In total, there are 138.5 thousand active patients in Ukraine today.
The Head of State instructed the government to ensure an increase in the number of beds in the near future in regions where there is a rapid increase in the incidence of COVID-19.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is also underway in Ukraine. 722,000 vaccinations were performed last week.
Separately, the Head of State was informed about vaccination in public authorities and among educators. As of October 2, the average rate of vaccinated in the civil service is 78.8%. A total of 12.6 million vaccinations have been performed in Ukraine. More than 7.1 million people were vaccinated, of which 5.771 million received two doses. Vaccination is actively taking place among educators, in particular with the help of special mobile groups.
The President stressed the need for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information Policy to intensify the information campaign on the importance of vaccination.
"We must use all resources, available methods and sources to convey to different segments of the population how important protection against COVID-19 is. People who get vaccinated not only protect themselves from the severe course of the disease - they protect the others, including members of their families," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.