What did Zelensky's positive COVID-19 test mean for Ukraine?
A look back at the day the president and the head of his office tested positive, as national case numbers climbed.
What happened in Kyiv on 9 November 2020, when the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, tested positive for COVID-19? The head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak, also received a positive result, and as reported at the time, two top government officials were affected alongside the president.
A record surge in the background
The news came two days after Ukraine reported a new record of 10,746 confirmed cases in 24 hours, on 7 November 2020. The nationwide total then stood at 450,934 cases. The infections at the top of government therefore coincided with a period of rapidly rising numbers across the country.
Why it mattered
The diagnoses placed the head of state and the head of his office among those affected by the same wave the country was struggling with. For a government facing record daily figures, the positive tests of its most senior figures brought the pandemic directly into the centre of public life.
The episode also showed that the virus was reaching the highest levels of power at the moment when national infection counts were at their peak so far. The 9 November 2020 announcements became one of the defining moments of Ukraine's autumn of that year, set against a daily tally that had just passed 10,000 for the first time in the reported figures.
