Ukraine COVID-19 hospitalisations rise to record amid second wave
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A record number of Ukrainians were taken to hospital with coronavirus over the past 24 hours while the quantity of lethal cases remain consistently high, health ministry data show on Wednesday.
Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Facebook 3,486 people were hospitalised in the past day, the highest number since the epidemic hit the country of 41 million last year.
A handout photo made available by the Presidential press service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky receiving an injection with the AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine in a Military Mobile Hospital during his visit to the Eastern-Ukrainian conflict zone in Luhansk area, Ukraine. EPA-EFE/PRSIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE OF UKRAINE
The number of hospitalisations did not exceed 2,000 during the peak of the epidemic in late 2020, but began to rise in late winter during the second wave of the epidemic.
Stepanov said 7,235 new cases were registered over the past 24 hours with 185 deaths. Ukraine has reported 1,364,705 coronavirus cases and 26,397 deaths so far.
Lagging behind the rest of Europe, Ukraine has only just started vaccinating its population after receiving its first batch of 500,000 Indian-made AstraZeneca shots last month, prioritising frontline healthcare workers and the military.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had a coronavirus vaccine shot during a visit with soldiers in the eastern Donbass region on Tuesday, hoping to reassure sceptics that the vaccine is safe and effective.
The government cited statistics showing that 47% of Ukrainians do not want the vaccine.
Main Photo: A local woman waits for an injection of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the pro-Russian militant-controlled territory of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Donetsk, Ukraine. EPA-EFE/DAVE MUSTAINE
