Ukrainian entrepreneurs on Friday staged protests against the tough quarantine introduced in their regions.
In particular, several dozen citizens have gathered outside the mayor's office in the capital city of Kyiv. People are complaining about the three-week tough quarantine introduced from March 20, which will be accompanied by restrictions on the work of public and cultural institutions.
The entrepreneurs announced a mass rally on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) would be held on March 22, according to the online newspaper Segodnya.
Entrepreneurs in the city of Poltava also expressed their indignation at the tough quarantine. On March 19, they staged a rally outside Poltava Regional State Administration's building. According to the Suspilne.Media outlet, as many as 50 people are now protesting there. Residents from other towns of the region also joined them.
What is more, a rally against the introduction of the tough lockdown is underway in the city of Cherkasy. Protesters say their event is a warning.
"The entrepreneurs came out to show that they exist and want the government to listen to them, because small businesses will die if restrictions are imposed again. Last year, the quarantine was also introduced in spring, during which entrepreneurs suffered huge losses. The state did not support them and demanded the payment of taxes," Chairperson of Cherkasy entrepreneurs' trade union Olha Rakova told journalists.
Rallies are also planned in the city of Lviv on March 19. First Deputy Mayor Andriy Moskalenko wrote on Facebook over 1,000 people are expected to gather outside the Town Hall's building. The tough coronavirus-related quarantine is in force in Lviv from March 19.
Third COVID-19 wave in Ukraine
- On March 4, 2021, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country was entering the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic.
- Experts from Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences (NAS) claim the mortality rate of the current COVID-19 wave has already exceeded the indicators of the autumn wave, and will increase at least by early April.
- An increase in the number of new cases is seeing in all regions of Ukraine, except for Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia. They faced the growth of new cases in the second half of January, which lasted for about one and a half months, by early March. Experts believe those regions are now going through a peak period in the number of hospitalizations and deaths.
- A tough quarantine has been introduced in the city of Lviv from March 19 until March 28, as well as in the capital city of Kyiv from March 20 until April 9.
