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The experience of weekend quarantine, which was previously introduced in Ukraine, is being picked up by other European countries, says Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

PM argues that the imposition of the weekend restrictions "was clear, and nothing changed along the way for three weeks," UP reports.

"This spring, like any other country, we were looking for options on how to deal with the virus. But then it was still unknown to us, we didn't know which measures would be better and which – worse, which ones would yield results and which wouldn't. Therefore, part of our efforts was about groping for effective measures. This is what all countries did, and we moved along with everyone else," the prime minister said.

"Now Latvia, it seems, has followed our suit on weekend quarantine starting this week. That is, they looked at how we're doing it (our prime ministers and share over the phone), and decided to do the same at home," he added.

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Read alsoOver half of Ukrainians ready to get free COVID-19 vaccine – pollAccording to Shmyhal, weekend quarantine is a "Ukrainian product" that European countries are starting to use today.

"It was not intended to reduce the incidence, its task is to stabilize this level. So that we can win time until late December – early January, when we can introduce stricter quarantine restrictions without harming the economy. Introduce winter holidays, let's call it that. They'll be there anyway. That's, with small adjustments, it will be possible to achieve colossal results," he added.

Weekend quarantine and upcoming lockdown in Ukraine

  • In November, a weekend quarantine was in effect in Ukraine. Subsequently, the Cabinet decided to abandon it.
  • On December 9, the government decided to tighten quarantine restrictions in Ukraine in January.
  • Harsher restrictions will be introduced after the New Year and Christmas holidays – from 00:00 on January 8 to 00:00 on January 25. In total, the lockdown will last 16 days.