How Ukraine closed its borders to foreigners on 16 March 2020
A look back at the day Ukraine shut its doors to non-citizens, days after quarantine began and the first coronavirus death was reported.
What did it mean for a country to close its borders just days after it had closed its schools? On 16 March 2020, Ukraine gave its answer: from 00:00, foreigners and stateless persons were barred from entering the country until 3 April.
The entry ban was the latest in a rapid sequence of measures. On 11 March 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers introduced a nationwide quarantine running from 12 March to 3 April, citing the outbreak of coronavirus around the world. Mass events of more than 200 people were prohibited, and kindergartens and educational institutions were closed. As reported at the time, the government said some sporting events might still go ahead, but without spectators. The border restriction therefore ran to the same 3 April date as the quarantine.
A first death
The domestic stakes had become clear on 13 March 2020, when the Ministry of Healthcare reported the country's first death from COVID-19. The victim was a 71-year-old woman from Radomyshl, in Zhytomyr region. Three days later, the border ban took effect.
A regional pattern
Ukraine was not acting alone. On 12 March 2020, neighbouring Slovakia ordered all its borders closed to non-residents, shut its international airports and closed schools. Poland, the same day, suspended all schools and universities for two weeks and closed theatres, operas, cinemas and museums. It also banned mass events. The Polish Football Association announced that its friendly matches with Finland and Ukraine, scheduled for later in March, would be played behind closed doors.
On 10 March 2020, Poland's Ministry of National Defence had said that General Commander Jarosław Mika tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Germany, making him NATO's highest-ranking armed forces member to be infected.
The picture on 16 March
By 16 March 2020, then, Ukraine had a quarantine in force, a first fatality on record and a ban on foreign arrivals, all within a week and all with the same end date of 3 April. The measures sat alongside similar steps across central Europe, where neighbours were also restricting movement and public gatherings.
