Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko says he did not support the government's decision to introduce weekend quarantine since businesses operating in the art and entertainment sector will be left without work.
"When we talk about the need to fight the coronavirus, we must proceed from the fact that we're all facing such infection for the first time. There are no clear scenarios of how this can be done. One can blame someone, pointing at [loaded] hospitals or whatever – I am not an expert here. But I clearly understand that the weekend quarantine will hit very hard the industries that our ministry deals with: cultural, creative industries, hospitality. And of course, 50% of their income comes on weekends," the minister told a TV panel show, TSN reports.
Given that the decision has been made, "extremely large" compensation to the said industries should be discussed as their revenues since the onset of quarantine in March have decreased by 50%.
Read alsoParliamentarian predicts when full lockdown possible in Ukraine"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people. Yes, we are people could get sick. But all these people are alive. We are talking about them having to go out somewhere... If we make any decisions, we should take into account not only people's health, but also the fact that we all want to survive. We have more than UAH 80 billion in losses since year-start in this field alone. This is part of the self-employed. Where will they go? And if this decision has already been made – and today I talked about it with the prime minister – we offered a whole package of assistance. On Tuesday he is set to meet with representatives of cultural and creative industries. We will involve experts in order to find ways out of this situation. I wouldn't like to discuss now whether weekend quarantine is a right thing or not. I abstained. But then it's worth talking about how we will help the living," Tkachenko said.
According to the minister, European statistics experts have proven that theaters, cinemas, and museums are attended by the least number of infected people.
"There's ventilation, everyone is wearing masks. From 0.2% to 2% per 100,000 infections, according to European statistics. That is, these are fairly safe areas. Also, people get this emotional relief. And this shouldn't be forgotten either," concluded Tkachenko.
Weekend quarantine: Background
- On November 11, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to introduce the so-called weekend quarantine nationwide from November 14 to 30. It will be in effect from 00.00 Saturday through 00.00 Monday.
- On the weekend, additional bans will be in place besides the week days' restrictions. Cafes and restaurants (except for take-out), shopping malls and entertainment centers, other entertainment outlets, fitness centers and the like must be closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Only grocery stores, pharmacies, veterinary pharmacies, medical institutions, and gas stations are allowed to operate.
- Reports say three ministers refrained from supporting the government's move this week to introduce "weekend quarantine" across Ukraine: Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.