On Friday, October 16, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal together with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov held a conference call with the heads of regions on the situation with the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine.

According to Oleh Didenko, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, it is currently important to coordinate actions with state and local authorities in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. According to him, the Cabinet of Ministers has allocated funding in a timely manner for a set of measures to ensure the safe conduct of the election process, but it is now necessary to ensure their implementation.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the funds for providing polling stations with personal protective equipment were transferred to local budgets. "I instruct the heads of regional state administrations to take this process under personal control, as the CEC has warnings about possible dishonest actions of local authorities. By Monday, I ask you to do everything so that the polling stations are provided with everything necessary and the elections are held in a safe environment," the Head of Government stressed.

Apart from that, Denys Shmyhal gave a commission to Minister of Health Maxym Stepanov to resolve as soon as possible the issues with certificates to ensure the voting of patients with COVID-19 who undergo treatment at home. He also instructed the responsible persons to inform the RSA heads about the procedure for voting in infectious diseases hospitals.

During the conference call, the Prime Minister discussed the situation in the regions with the occupancy of beds and oxygen supply.

"Today, the Ministry of Finance signed a document on the distribution of UAH 572 million to ensure the supply of oxygen to beds. The State Treasury will transfer funds to the regions today. Therefore, I ask the heads of regional state administrations, as instructed, to clearly fulfill this task by the end of the month," Denys Shmyhal stressed.

On the outcomes of the meeting, the Prime Minister commissioned the Minister of Health to resolve the issue of certification of Ukrainian medical oxygen producers by October 21.