Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko says the country is preparing for a second wave of coronavirus.
"Now we have 26,000 empty hospital beds and 2,500 ventilators. Some 3,000 beds are occupied, while about 60 people are connected to the ventilators. That is, we have 10% of the occupancy of those beds that are ready to accept patients. This is the first wave. The second and third waves are already thought out for re-profiling," he said during a "Freedom of Speech by Savik Shuster" panel show on Ukraine TV channel on May 8. According to Liashko, preparation activities are being concentrated in Chernivtsi region where most coronavirus cases are recorded today. "A new medical facility on 72 beds has already been prepared in the city of Chernivtsi, which will accept patients. Therefore, when we talk about quarantine easing, we are not talking about the fact that we have already got rid of the outbreak and the epidemic," the official added. As UNIAN reported earlier, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Ukraine exceeded 14,700 on Saturday morning.
UNIAN
