Amid surge in COVID-19 cases, Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast reintroduces mask-wearing rules

The New Voice of Ukraine
·1 min read
In the Sumy oblast, the number of cases of coronavirus has increased
In the Sumy oblast, the number of cases of coronavirus has increased

Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhivytsky wrote on his channel in the Telegram messenger that several deaths from complications caused by the coronavirus have already been recorded.

“We have made a decision to introduce a mask regime in our region,” Zhivytsky wrote.

Read also: Second COVID-19 booster now freely available in Ukraine

“I ask every resident to follow anti-epidemic measures to the full extent, use masks and antiseptic.”

Zhivytsky did not give any figures for numbers of new cases or deaths from the disease.

Ukraine’s Health Ministry stopped updating COVID-19 data on its website on Feb. 24, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to data from the World Health Organization, COVID-19 cases dropped sharply in Ukraine in 2022.

However, a rise in cases has been observed in September. The number of deaths per day throughout most of the year has on average been in the high teens.

But on Aug. 15 the number of deaths rose to 37, a week-on-week rise of 131%, while on Sept. 26 (the latest data on the WHO website) the number of deaths was 161 – a 79% rise week-on-week.

There is no data breakdown by oblast on the WHO website.

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Ukraine has recorded 5,177,217 cases of COVID-19, of which 109,206 have been fatal.

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