Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says the Cabinet of Ministers has authorized local government to decide on a ban on transportation by road and by rail in the regions that are included in the COVID-19 red zone.
"Now the regional commissions for technology-related and environmental safety and emergencies will independently decide on quarantine-related restrictions on transportation by road and by rail in the red zone," he wrote on Telegram on March 22.
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Such commissions will in particular decide on a ban on regular and irregular transportation of passengers by road and by rail, he added.
Restrictions won't be applicable to:
- Transit traffic;
- Travel by car if the number of passengers plus the driver doesn't exceed five people (persons under 14 are not included);
- Corporate vehicles, including rented ones, are not subject to the ban if passengers and drivers use seating capacity only. They should move along the routes about which the National Police are notified no later than two days prior to such trips; and
- Transportation of passengers by road in international traffic if they have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result run no earlier than 48 hours prior to crossing in.
Also, the national commission for technology-related and environmental safety and emergencies, by its separate resolution, will be able to ban passenger transportation by road or by rail on interregional routes except for special passenger trips by rail.
Red and orange zones
- As of March 22, eight areas were included in the red zone, namely the city of Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Chernivtsi regions.
- The orange zone includes Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions.
Curbs in red zone are related to:
- Passenger services on buses, trams and trolleybuses with over 50% of seating capacity;
- Catering services at bars, restaurants, cafes, etc., except for delivery and take-away;
- Operations of restaurants in hotels (they are limited);
- Operations of shopping and entertainment centers and children's entertainment hubs;
- Operations of non-food markets and street fairs;
- Operations of cultural facilities, swimming pools, as well as mass cultural and sports events. However, the ban does not apply to official sports events included in Ukraine's unified calendar of sports events and matches of team games and professional sports clubs, which can be held without spectators;
- Studying in educational institutions, except for kindergartens, special educational institutions, and grades 1 to 4 at schools. Distance learning is recommended; and
- Access to institutions, including social protection institutions where elderly people live/stay, as well as other persons in need of special care, will be limited. This also refers to institutions and establishments providing social services to people in difficult life circumstances, except for those that render emergency social services.