Ukraine's government and COVID-19: the situation on 16 November 2020
A look back at how the pandemic reached the top of Ukraine's leadership and shaped policy in the days before 16 November 2020.
What was the state of Ukraine's government on 16 November 2020, as the pandemic tightened its grip on the country? The days leading up to that Monday had brought a run of developments that put COVID-19 at the centre of public life.
On 11 November 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers abolished the adaptive quarantine and introduced a weekend lockdown. The change set the framework for restrictions as infections climbed.
The numbers moved quickly. On 13 November 2020, Ukraine reported a record 11,787 new confirmed cases in a single day, taking the national total since the start of the pandemic to 512,652.
The virus also reached the highest levels of the state. As reported at the time, on 12 November 2020 President Volodymyr Zelensky was hospitalised after contracting COVID-19 earlier that week. Then, on 15 November 2020, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov tested positive for the virus, the day before the covered date.
Taken together, these reports showed a country introducing new restrictions while its president and health minister were both affected by the disease, and while daily case counts were setting records.
