Ukrainian Health Minister Yemets says Ukraine is entering the second phase of the war on the novel coronavirus, which includes not only prevention measures but also treatment.
"Unfortunately, Ukraine was unable to take tough measures to prevent the virus from entering," the Health Ministry said on Facebook by quoting him as saying in an interview to TV Channel 112 Ukraine on March 22. "Therefore, now, at the moment, we already have cases that did not originate from China or Europe, they are locally spread ones. That is, the second stage is at its beginning, and we must prevent the country from becoming part of the pandemic."
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According to the minister, the ministry's team and the Ukrainian authorities are currently working hard to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The vertical system of the health control service will be restored in Ukraine as a key element of the war against COVID-19, he said.
"Now it is very important to contain the spread of the virus, although it is very hard to do. Because the third stage of this invisible enemy (coronavirus) is mortality. If China has managed to keep the death rate as low as 3-4%, Italy has failed to do that, and it is 8-9% there now. Today I've gathered experts who will work on the medical reform in keeping with Western standards ... Those specialists are able to keep our death rate even lower than in China," he said.
