The Office of the President of Ukraine believes that the chief physicians of a number of Ukrainian medical institutions sometimes force staff to hide their coronavirus infections at work because they fear that their hospitals could face administrative punishment.
The press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine announced this in a statement after a conference call, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"This is a dangerous and unacceptable situation. The Ministry of Health must take urgent action to protect doctors who are being forced by hospitals to lie and hide their coronavirus infections," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The head of state inquired about provision of personal protective equipment to schoolchildren because he has received information indicating that schools have insufficient personal protective equipment.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal assured the president that such institutions in regional centers are fully equipped with everything necessary to protect against coronavirus infection in accordance with the protocol that the government developed for safe learning in schools.
According to him, children should not wear masks during lessons. They should wear masks only during breaks.
Zelenskyy stressed that information about protection of children throughout Ukraine and not just in regional centers should be taken into account.
He also asked for information about the impact of schooling on the spread of coronavirus infection.
Shmyhal stressed that 149 children have fallen ill in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, although this figure is usually about 100 in the summer.
However, according to him, this increase in the number of cases on September 2 is not indicative of the impact of the start of schooling on the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Shmyhal said that the Cabinet of Ministers would conduct the relevant audit during the first two weeks of classes to understand how safe schooling is.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the number of confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Ukraine increased by 2,430 to 128,228 and the number of deaths from the disease by 54 people to 2,710 on September 2, compared with the previous day.
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