Ministry of Health scares with COVID-19 outbreak after Easter

Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Liashko. Photo: a screenshot of the video on the "Snіdanok z 1 + 1" YouTube channel

On April 21, 2020, the Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, contrary to the position of the police, said in the programme "Snіdanok z 1 + 1" that after Easter there would be an outbreak of coronavirus infection.

“What our statistics show, how many priests and monks infected in closed rooms we saw today, this will give a 100% outbreak.” Our main task is what kind of outbreak it will be and how we should prepare for it,” he said.

According to Liashko, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is intensively preparing hospitals to receive patients with COVID-19 in those regions of Ukraine where the services were held.

“Today, you know, certain cities are closed. We, again, are preparing hospitals in those regional centers that were not designated for the reception of patients, but services were held there,” the chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine said.

As an example, he named the Pochayiv Central District Hospital (as of April 21, according to the assistant dean of the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra, Hieromonk Nikodim (Shamailo), there are no COVID-19 cases in the Pochayiv Lavra – Ed.).

According to the Deputy Minister of Health, a surge in coronavirus infection is possible within 5-7 days after Easter due to the fact that 130,000 people attended the service.

“If compared with the previous year, when 7,500,000 participated in services, people basically followed (the quarantine – Ed.) But 130,000 were anyway,” he emphasized. “And 130,000 if we are talking about a population, if we equate this to the spread of coronavirus disease, <...> this is a significant, large amount that can give us a significant surge in the coronavirus disease in the future.”

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, on the contrary, noted that Ukrainians can be proud of how they celebrated Easter in quarantine. In his opinion, the fact that a little more than 100,000 believers came to the services, and not 7,500,000, is a manifestation of maturity and responsible attitude to oneself, relatives and physicians.

Earlier, the National Police of Ukraine said that Easter services were held without violations in most churches.

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