Tymoshenko's COVID-19 diagnosis and Europe's border worries, August 2020
A look back at the pandemic news reported in the days before 27 August 2020, from a Ukrainian politician's illness to Hungary's border plans.
What was the pandemic picture in Ukraine and its neighbourhood on 27 August 2020? The days leading up to that date brought two notable reports.
On 23 August 2020, it was reported that former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was in serious condition after testing positive for COVID-19. The information came from one of her party's spokespeople. The report placed the illness of a prominent public figure within the wider course of the pandemic in Ukraine.
Two days earlier, on 21 August 2020, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on state radio that Hungary would tighten border crossing rules on 1 September. His stated aim was to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as the number of new infections was rising in neighbouring countries.
Together, the reports show how, by late August 2020, the virus was affecting both individual public figures and government decisions on movement across borders in the region.
