Government prepares for introducing quarantine for winter holidays – Shmyhal

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated the government was preparing for all possible scenarios, including introducing quarantine for the winter holidays.

He said this at a government meeting.

"We are preparing for all possible scenarios, including introducing quarantine for the winter holidays," Shmyhal said.

"We are not talking about tougher measures now. But we understand that the end of December and the beginning of January are the periods of New Year's holidays. These mean meetings, fairs, close contacts between people. And all this can give a significant impetus to the disease outbreak, which the medical system may not withstand.

The government does not hide and says openly that we are developing a plan to respond to the situation deteriorating. Since our steps must be clear and predictable for people and business," Prime Minister said.

"Orange zone restrictions and weekend quarantine are currently in place in Ukraine. We will assess the final effectiveness and outcome of such a model in early December, but we are already seeing a decline in population incidence. According to mobile connection providers, the activity of people decreased to the lowest level since the full quarantine in the spring. It means reducing the likelihood of infection and breaking the chain of disease.

The result of all these measures should help us access the plateau by the number of patients at the beginning of December. We can see a certain improvement in the situation today, both in terms of the number of occupied beds and number of patients," the head of government added.