I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
I continue to report to you on our fight against the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine.
To begin with, I would like to thank all Ukrainians who celebrated Easter at home.
This was unusual for everyone, but very important for our health.
About one hundred thousand believers attended this year's worship, compared to seven and a half million last year.
This difference proves that we are mature, responsible citizens who think about themselves, their loved ones and Ukrainian doctors. I think we have done great and can be proud of ourselves.
Also today, I would like to point out the decision of the European Commission to provide EUR 1.2 billion in assistance to Ukraine to counteract coronavirus.
These are important funds that can guarantee macro-financial stability in our country and mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on citizens.
I am grateful for this and I sincerely hope that the proposal will be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council.
I am sure this will be another signal of Europe's strong friendship and partnership with Ukraine.
In addition, I support the decision of the Ukrainian government to continue quarantine until May 11. This is the right move based on the analytics of the National Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Health.
We have a clear quarantine exit plan. The Prime Minister will soon announce a detailed scenario of five stages of quarantine exit.
A smooth exit will start under two key conditions.
First: within ten days the percentage of detected patients does not change or remains within 5%.
Second: hospitals are filled by patients with COVID-19 by less than half.
Dear citizens! We are all looking forward to the moment when we can return to the usual rhythm of life. We can freely go to work, parks, cinemas and restaurants. But haste in the issue of life and health of the nation can be fatal. Therefore, we need to have a little more patience and self-discipline.
Let us continue to monitor the situation and, most importantly, remain calm.
In the meantime, work is ongoing to provide the country, our hospitals and pharmacies with everything necessary. Tomorrow 200,000 PCR tests of domestic production will be shipped and sent to the regions of Ukraine. In general, there are orders for two million PCR tests made in Ukraine. Also we expect 200 ventilators from the Ukrainian manufacturer by the end of May.
Among other things, this week 360,000 respirators and 800,000 reagents for PCR tests were delivered to us.
And today we have a joyous event - our An-225, our legendary Mriya landed in Hostomel. The aircraft delivered over 12 million masks, as well as hundreds of thousands of suits and glasses.
In general, during the fight against COVID-19, our Antonov aircrafts delivered more than two thousand tons of different cargoes to Ukraine, America, Europe and the Middle East. The contribution and important role of Ukraine in the fight against coronavirus is positively appreciated by the whole world.
You know, we often forget for some reason that we have something and someone to be proud of.
This is wrong, we should not be shy and can speak loudly about our pride reasons. And it's not just Ruslan and Mriya aircrafts. It is our doctors. Today, a group of Ukrainian doctors and virologists return home from Italy. They have helped our Italian friends in a difficult time, and most importantly, they return home with invaluable experience in treating and counteracting coronavirus. I thank them for their work and sincerely welcome them to their homeland.
Besides, I always said that our people are the biggest treasure of Ukraine. We have many talented scientists. From the first days of the fight against coronavirus, they have been working to find a cure that can help humanity. Four different medicines are currently being studied.
And these days Ukraine begins clinical trials of the drug to combat COVID-19. There are preliminary findings from our scientists and manufacturers that this drug can be very effective. They have every reason to believe that it can significantly reduce or completely neutralize the risk of death from complications that coronavirus infection causes to the human body.
This is especially related to people in the high-risk area who have cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
There is hope that the remedy will be effective not only for the treatment, but also for the prevention of the disease.
Of course, we have to wait for the official results of clinical trials, but together with the whole country, we believe in our scientists and keep our fingers crossed.
And finally. April 23 is declared International Day of English and Spanish by the UN. Now, while at home, we can “pump” our foreign language skills and knowledge throughout the country.
The day will come when all this will end and foreign tourists will be able to visit us. Let's improve our foreign language skills during quarantine and welcome our guests with a clean and impeccable “Welcome to Ukraine”.
Stay home and keep well, fellow Ukrainians!
I wish you 36.6! Take care of ourselves! Save Ukraine!