The decision to introduce a full lockdown in Ukraine may be made after the third "weekend quarantine,", that's November 28-29.
That's according to Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who spoke with journalist Olesia Batsman.
"As for lockdown, everything is very simple. Now we have a weekend quarantine," it will be the third weekend. What are we trying to achieve with weekend quarantine? We have seen a sharp jump in the incidence rate. Hospitals are filling up, reprofiled hospitals are being launched, they are starting to take patients to other locations, people are filming how overcrowded hospitals are, posting this on social networks, not being aware that a nearby hospital is half empty and now all patients are being taken there. This is getting a bit twisted. We are trying to slow down the spread pace in order to stabilize the situation and during this time to increase the number of available beds, primarily those provided with oxygen and other necessary equipment," the official explained.
Read alsoZelensky's office says 80% of beds in hospitals to have oxygen supplyAs for the lockdown, Tymoshenko said: "Full lockdown, which many are discussing, whether it may or may not be imposed, we will understand after we pass the third weekend of the 'weekend quarantine'. And then we will make appropriate decisions."
The official added that they will consult with local authorities on the issue of introducing a lockdown. The decision will be based on the pace of morbidity growth and hospital load, he added.
"The main task is to break the chain, so that in a certain period people have fewer contacts with each other and that the transmission of COVID-19 between people gets lower. We can say that we will maintain balance in decision-making. Because on the one hand there's the economy, and on the other hand – people's deaths. Economy isn't just a word, it is people's lives... Therefore, here it will be necessary to understand at what moment we should do this, and how. If there is a lockdown, we will come out with proper communication, and it will be in advance," said the deputy chief of the presidential staff.
Quarantine in Ukraine: Background
On November 11, the Cabinet decided to introduce weekend quarantine from November 14.
The government abandoned the adaptive quarantine model to establish a nationwide quarantine along with restrictions that were enforced in the previous version of lockdown in territories with an orange level of epidemic threat.
On November 17, the Rada failed the support the motion to recommend that the Cabinet repeal the resolution on weekend quarantine.
On November 25, the Cabinet allowed the introduction of a full lockdown for the New Year holidays.
