The Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine's government, rules out the introduction of a new lockdown in the country or the postponement of pending local election over the coronavirus epidemic.
"Everything is going according to plan, we rely on our own forecast. Now we are not talking about a lockdown," Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Oleksiy Chernyshov told the RBC Ukraine news agency in an interview.
He reiterated the elections would take place in three weeks.
Read alsoNo new total lockdown expected in Ukraine yet – health ministerAs of October 8, 2020, Ukraine registered 5,397 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the first time the country has exceeded 5,000 cases in a single day since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. The total number of confirmed cases grew to 244,734. As many as 108,233 patients, including 2,263 in the past day, have recovered. The death toll has hit 4,690 with 93 fatalities recorded in the past day.
Local elections in Ukraine amid quarantine: Recent developments
- On September 5, preparations for the local elections, scheduled for October 25, began in Ukraine.
- The Central Election Commission (CEC) preliminary recommended that such rules be adopted for the period of local election: social distancing, limitations on the number of people around the polling station's desks where ballots are issued (no more than four persons at a time), availability of hand sanitizers, separate booths for persons with flu symptoms, and a ban on public events in indoor settings with the participation of candidates running for local governments.
- People not wearing face masks will be allowed to vote, but police will be entitled to fine violators of the quarantine rules.
