The National Bank of Ukraine Governor says that a new lockdown will cost Ukraine about 0.4 to 0.6 percent of GDP.
The number of Covid-19 cases is spiking in Ukraine, and a new lockdown is looming. Ukraine reported 12,662 new cases yesterday, which is much more than just a month ago, and the politicians are considering a new lockdown as vaccination rates remain low.
But it will be expensive to introduce a new lockdown, explains the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, NBU, Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to Ukrinform.
“Although business processes are returning offline and vaccination rates are growing, the risks of introducing a new lockdown due to the spread of new strains of the virus remain significant. The assessment of the impact on GDP will depend on the format of quarantine restrictions. Depending on the severity of the possible measures, losses may be from 0.4% to 0.6%,” Shevchenko said in an interview.
The situation is worrisome
The 12,662 new Covid-19 cases bring the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 2.48 million. Around 5.87 million Ukrainians are fully vaccinated, and Ukraine vaccinates around 100,000 people per day.
In a survey in April, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 52.2 percent of Ukrainians aren’t interested in being vaccinated, according to Euronews. The distrust in vaccines is a big problem for Ukraine, which is trying to reach herd immunity.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently urged Ukrainians to get vaccinated. He made it clear that Ukraine has access to enough vaccines.
“It is very easy now to get vaccinated against coronavirus; the number of vaccines in Ukraine exceeds 10 million today. Vaccines are absolutely safe, tested, so I urge all Ukrainians to protect themselves, protect their relatives, and get vaccinated,” Shmyhal said at a government meeting, according to Ukrinform.
