Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov held a meeting on forecasting the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine

Under the chairmanship of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov, a meeting on the issue of forecasting the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine was held.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Petrashko, Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Yulia Sokolovska, First Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Denys Ulyutin, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Ihor Harbaruk, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Solovyov, representatives of the CEC, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the National Health Service of Ukraine attended the meeting.

During the meeting, the issues of adapting the strategy of countering the COVID-19 epidemic in autumn were discussed, in particular in the context of the beginning of the new school year in secondary and higher education institutions and holding local elections on October 25.

The NSDC Secretary noted that judging by the results of the monitoring carried out with the help of the “COTA” software and hardware complex one can predict a significant increase in the number of new cases of infection if citizens do not follow quarantine rules. “As of October 25, according to the pessimistic scenario, we will have 360 ​​thousand cases of infection, and we must be ready for that”, - he said.

According to him, due to the beginning of the new school year and the intensification of the election process, it is necessary to organize monitoring of the dynamics of social contacts of patients with coronavirus disease in the period from August 29 to September 10 this year.

According to Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal, the epidemic globally is occurring in waves. Some countries reported a decline in the epidemic, but quickly got a new outbreak. Therefore, Ukraine must be ready for the situation developing by all scenarios, he stressed.

During the meeting, it was emphasized that medical institutions are ready to accept patients with coronavirus disease given the current incidence dynamics. Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov noticed that the medical system is equipped with a sufficient number of ventilators, mobile X-rays and personal protective equipment. He also said that the issue is currently being agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance regarding the purchase of “Remdesivir” for 8000 patients. Clinical trials of domestic drugs, in particular, “Bioven”, are ongoing and should be completed in September.

The NSDC Secretary pointed out that given the aggravating epidemic situation, “the elections on October 25 will be one of the most difficult for the entire period of our independence”. “Ensuring the voting of all citizens without exception is a key condition for democracy”, - he said adding that in this regard, the election process should be organized taking into account all the recommendations of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on countering COVID-19.

In this context, the Minister of Health of Ukraine noted that together with the CEC a clear plan for the functioning of election commissions during the epidemic had been developed.

Mr. Danilov expressed his conviction that this whole process should take place as publicly as possible: “It is necessary to involve the public in the discussion. All members of the election process must know the algorithm of action during elections under quarantine restrictions”.