Viktor Liashko: People over 60 are recommended to stay at home to avoid catching coronavirus infection as it can cost the elderly their life

The whole range of quarantine-related restrictive measures is aimed at preventing the mass infecting with coronavirus in Ukraine and preserving the health of people at risk, particularly the elderly. The Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said at a briefing on April 6.

“In Ukraine, the majority of people over 60 years old, unfortunately, have chronic diseases, which in the case of catching coronavirus altogether often entail fatal outcome. That is why it was decided to oblige older people to avoid getting outside their home/ apartment to prevent the risk of infection,” said Viktor Liashko.

The official stressed that all the activities currently being undertaken in Ukraine, in particular, the introduction of restrictive measures - are aimed to protect the citizens. And to ensure that the health system is not paralyzed in case of an increase in confirmed coronavirus cases and is capable of providing medical care to people with other illnesses. “It is the observance of all quarantine measures and social distancing that is the key to our country's readiness to meet and easily overcome the epidemic. We can prevent a large influx of patients and extending of the disease over time, as well as to prevent the challenge making the healthcare system crippled,” said the Chief State Sanitary Doctor.

According to him, many healthcare facilities are undergoing re-profiling these days to receive patients with COVID-19. Accordingly, healthcare facilities, in particular, determined to receive the first wave of patients, are provided with personal protective equipment. The process of testing for coronavirus disease is being expanded.

Viktor Liashko explained a COVID-19 disease testing algorithm. If there are any symptoms characteristic of a coronavirus, you should call your family doctor, who will diagnose and send a mobile team to collect the samples for diagnosis. Those who have failed to sign the declaration with family doctor and in case of suspected coronavirus symptoms should call the emergency medical service number 103, and the dispatcher will send the response team. After diagnosis, the doctor will decide whether the patient continues to be treated at home under the medical supervision of the physician or undergoes hospitalization.

At that, Viktor Liashko emphasized that it is dangerous to engage in self-medication, as this can lead to fatality.

He reported that in addition to emergency teams, there are 8 aircraft (3 - SES, 5 - National Guard) in the state of readiness for aeromedical evacuation, "which in difficult cases will be able to hospitalize patients to healthcare facilities."

According to Viktor Liashko, yesterday the specialists of the Ministry of Health, the NHSU, the SES went to the regions to “check on the ground the readiness of certain healthcare institutions for the admission of first-wave patients with coronavirus disease”.

Moreover, he informed that over the past 24hrs, there have been confirmed 68 new cases of coronavirus disease in Ukraine. A total of 373 suspected coronavirus samples were examined. Over the past day, 3 people recovered and 6 people died.

According to the Public Health Centre, as of 9:00 a.m. on April 6, there were 1,319 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine, 38 of which were lethal, 28 people recovered.