Ukraine has something to be proud of in the issue of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, because, despite serious problems in the healthcare system, it has managed to reduce the number of infection cases and increase payments to health workers. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his speech at the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses".
"Without being too modest, I will say that Ukraine really has something to be proud of in the issues of countering COVID-19. Because, frankly speaking, the state of the medical system we inherited, as a matter of logic, left no chance to avoid collapse and catastrophe," the President said.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the system of laboratories and the vertical of public health physicians were destroyed in the state.
"We actually collected laboratory technicians, epidemiologists, and infectious disease specialists around the country manually," the President said.
In addition, medical supplies and equipment were in short supply and the shelves of the State Reserve were empty.
"However, we managed to quickly organize deliveries from other countries, and later launched large-scale Ukrainian production. We have raised the salaries of health workers fighting COVID-19 up to 300%. And this year we have significantly increased payments to all health workers of all levels," the Head of State stressed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the authorities, choosing between a blow to the economy and people's health, took an unpopular step and imposed strict quarantine.
"It proved to be effective and allowed to gain precious time," the President said.
At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that politics interfered in the issue of countering COVID-19.
"Different parties, different opposition leaders, local authorities have used every opportunity to earn dividends and electoral points. There was a huge amount of manipulation, lies, populism and sabotage - and all this, of course, did not help to overcome the virus," the President noted.
The President stressed that the results achieved in difficult circumstances and in a short time prove the correctness and effectiveness of the actions started from the first day of counteraction to COVID-19.
"The mortality rate from COVID-19 in Ukraine is the lowest compared to many European countries. We’ve withstood longer than the others and have not imposed the lockdown. And the restrictions that were in force in January were quite, I think, liberal, compared to lockdown formats in Germany, Britain, France and other countries," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
In addition, during this time Ukraine has managed to increase the number of hospital beds.
"Already today, 70 percent of them are free. And more than 80 percent of beds in Ukraine are supplied with oxygen," the President said.
The President stressed that people who were forced to suspend their work due to quarantine received economic support.
"More than half a million Ukrainians received direct assistance from the state in the amount of eight thousand hryvnias. And this is just one of many tools of state support for citizens and businesses," he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that today in Ukraine the situation with the spread of COVID-19 has been stabilized and the average weekly number of cases has been reduced three times.
