Advertisement

Ukraine may face new jump in coronavirus cases - minister

People wearing protective face masks get on a tram in Kyiv

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian health minister Maksym Stepanov said on Tuesday the number of coronavirus cases may rise to 8,000-10,000 a day in the coming weeks.

Ukraine reported a record 6,410 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday versus the previous record of 5,992 registered on Friday.

The daily tally spiked above 5,000 in October, prompting the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of 2020.

Stepanov said Ukraine would introduce stricter lockdown restrictions if cases rise to 11,000-15,000 daily. He warned that the resources of the medical system would run out if the number of daily cases exceeds 20,000.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets; Editing by Andrew Heavens)