In the past 24 hours, Ukraine has registered 2693 new cases of COVID-19 – a sharp rise in cases.
COVID-19 and the headaches associated with it might be back in Ukraine. The country just registered 2693 new cases in the past day and 2477 cases on the day before that, which is a sharp rise compared to the previous days. On August 31, only 1356 cases were registered.
In the past day, 45 patients died from the disease, and still the amount of new cases is higher than the number of recovered patients, meaning that the number of active cases is slowly rising as well, putting further strains on the healthcare system.
Still, the test frequency is relatively low. The 2693 new cases were registered in 23,538 PCR tests and 7305 antibody tests, meaning that almost one in ten tests are positive, hinting at a large number of hidden cases.
Vaccinations are on the way
More than 4 million Ukrainians have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 1.4 million people have received the first of the two doses. Ukraine has been vaccinating since the end of February.
Out of a population of roughly 40 million Ukrainians, an eighth have now been either vaccinated or has started the vaccination process. 46,826 people was vaccinated with the first dose yesterday, while 105,946 received the second dose.
At this rate, it will still take more than a year to fully vaccinate the Ukrainian population, not accounting for vaccine scepticism and availability of the vaccine. However, in five months, the first vaccinated Ukrainians will likely start needing booster shots.
Lockdown?
Still there is no apparent lockdown in sight. Even in Kyiv, where most of the new cases are registered, there are almost no restrictions on shops and businesses. Still, wearing a mask while indoors is required, but that is about it.
Bars, restaurants, night clubs and the like are fully open, and as we saw last week, Ukraine is not shying away from mass events like a giant military parade gathering thousands of people in the middle of Kyiv. Also indoors events are open. This week, for example, the Ukrainian Comic Con will be taking place.
Still, an outbreak of COVID-19 is in the early stages, and except for the first lockdown last year, there is still some time until the daily registered cases reaches the numbers, where lockdown was introduced last time.
