Clashes in Ukraine upon arrival of Coronavirus evacuees from China
5701 Min Read
A central Ukrainian town was the scene of clashes on Thursday as outraged residents protested against the arrival of evacuees from China, who were set to be quarantined for the coronavirus.
DW reports that some 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreign nationals were evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, and brought to a sanatorium in the town of Novi Sanzhary, east of Kyiv, for a two-week quarantine period.
So far, no confirmed cases of the virus have been registered in Ukraine. But fears of a possible spread of the virus drove locals to confront the convoy of buses that were transporting the evacuee.
The report adds that in a show of solidarity with the evacuees, Ukraine’s health minister announced she will join the quarantine.
“I will spend the next 14 days with them, in the same premises, under the same conditions,” Health Minister Zoryana Skaletska said late Thursday in a statement addressed to the residents of Novi Sanzhary.
“These people are our compatriots,” she wrote on Facebook. “We live in one country and have to take care of their health and safety.” She added that she was “shaken” by the widespread panic and aggression.
