The situation with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine was discussed at a traditional conference call chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Head of State raised the issue of preparation for the Easter holidays during the pandemic. "We already have experience in celebrating such important holidays. Although we continue vaccinations, crowds of people still pose a threat today. I personally understand how important Easter is, but the pandemic is adjusting our plans. I am sure that we will all have many more holidays ahead, and we will gather with family and friends again, but this year we need to be prudent," he said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that the state is preparing for the Easter holidays during a pandemic. The head of government also said that 14,000 fewer people got infected across Ukraine last week than in the previous week. According to him, several regions in central and western Ukraine are close to leaving the "red zone", but the situation in Kyiv remains complicated.
Denys Shmyhal said that a total of 77,698 beds were allocated for patients with COVID-19 disease in Ukraine. Of these, 67,567 are supplied with oxygen. 44,415 of them are occupied today.
"Bed occupancy rates have improved over the past three weeks. Weekly figures also show stability. As for the number of active patients, the dynamics of growth has slowed down," the Prime Minister said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stressed that Ukraine urgently needs to prepare a state-of-the-art laboratory for the development of vaccines and drugs as soon as possible. For this purpose, UAH 100 million was allocated in the state budget this year. The Ministry of Health is looking for ways to solve this issue.
"We need to gather our best minds and provide them with working conditions at the level of western specialists. Ukraine needs such a laboratory not only during this pandemic. In general, this may become a solution to the challenges of the future," the President said.
The Ministry of Health also reported on the work on a plan to purchase the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccinate the population. The government plans to vaccinate up to 70% of the adult population by the end of the year.