Health minister predicts new COVID-19 outbreak in Ukraine after weekend in Odesa

Odesa-based beaches and clubs were crowded with vacationers last weekend.

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Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov predicts a new outbreak of COVID-19 in the country after mass violations of the coronavirus quarantine rules in Odesa last weekend (June 27-29).

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Significant traffic jams along the Kyiv-Odesa highway were reported, as many vacationers rushed to the southern city of Odesa located on the Black Sea coast, he said at a briefing on June 30.

Citizens neglect the Health Ministry's recommendations regarding behavior during the epidemic. In particular, beaches and nightclubs operate without observing epidemiological requirements, which will lead to a surge in the incidence in Ukraine.

"That is, not wearing [face] masks, failing to observe social distancing and use hand sanitizers – all this leads to a spike in the COVID-19 incidence," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, beaches and clubs in Odesa were crowded with vacationers on the weekend.

Many people there neglected the quarantine rules, such as social distancing, despite a record spike in daily COVID-19 cases.

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