Quarantine in Ukraine prolonged

1. New Government Resolution

2. Restrictive measures during the quarantine

3. Restrictive measures during the lockdown

On 9 December 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at its meeting adopted its Resolution No.1236 On the establishment of quarantine and introduction of restrictive anti-epidemic measures aimed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the territory of Ukraine, which came into effect on 12 December 2020.

Under the Resolution, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, from 19 December 2020 to 28 February 2021, stricter quarantine measures will be in effect throughout Ukraine.

The Resolution also introduces the so-called lockdown from 00:00 on 8 January through 00:00 on 25 January 2021.

The Cabinet of Ministers in Ukraine has, thus, established a new quarantine order.

During the quarantine that will last until 28 February, the following is forbidden:

• being in public facilities and buildings or on public transport without PPE, namely respirators or masks that cover nose and mouth;
• being outside without ID;
• leaving the self-isolation premises;
• for foreigners to enter Ukraine, without a health insurance card (certificate of insurance) that covers expenses arising from COVID-19 treatment and observation and is valid for the period of stay in Ukraine, except for:
  • foreigners permanently residing in Ukraine;
  • employees of foreign diplomatic missions and consular institutions, employees of the representative offices of official international missions, organizations accredited in Ukraine, and members of their families;
  • crew members of river and maritime vessels;
  • military servicemen (divisions) of the armed forces of NATO member-states who train Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen;
• holding public events (cultural, including concerts, sports, social, religious, promotional, etc.) with more than 20 participants;
• functioning of places of worship or prayer if they are unable to limit the number of visitors to 1 person per 5 square meters of the given premises; holding of religious events outdoors, unless the regulation of 1.5-meter distance between the participants is observed;
• cinemas and theatre halls filled over 50% of their capacity;
• the number of visitors in museums exceeding 1 person per 20 square meters; if a museum is unable to adhere to this regulation, it has to be temporarily closed for visitors;
• carrying passengers by automotive transport, including city and intercity buses, minibuses, electric public transport (trams, trolleybuses), regional and interregional trains, in the quantity exceeding the number of seats;
• work of discos, entertainment facilities (night clubs), public catering facilities (restaurants, cafes, bars, snack bars, cafeterias, canteens, etc.) related to the organization of leisure;
• catering facilities (restaurants, cafes, bars, snack bars, cafeterias, canteens, etc.) being open for guests from 11 pm to 7 am, with a ban on payment transactions after 10 pm; during these hours, such facilities are only allowed to provide takeaway services or delivery; additionally, catering facilities are allowed to operate as normal from 11 pm on 31 December 2020 through 1 am on 1 January 2021;
• for catering facilities to place guests at tables with a distance between the tables of less than 2 meters or allowing over 4 people at one table (excluding minors); the guests have to use PPE when entering and moving around such facilities;
• work of public facilities that serve customers but fail to provide the following:
  • marked distance of 1.5 meters between the customers in a line;
  • PPE for the employees;
  • centralized collection of used PPE in designated containers;
• attending educational facilities in groups of over 20 people, with the exception of day-cares, secondary schools, out-of-school and specialized art education institutions;
• planned hospital admission (except for pregnant women, new-borns, cancer patients, palliative care patients and cases when a patient’s life could be at risk);
• work of gyms, fitness-centres, that are unable to adhere to the regulation of having not more than 1 person per 20 square meters of their facility;
• attending temporary detention facilities, including those for foreigners or stateless persons, who have illegally entered Ukraine, as well as facilities for refugees, except for the people providing legal aid to such persons;

Business entities are also recommended to make changes (if necessary) to their business hours for the period of quarantine and to start working days from 9 am, 10 am, or even later.

Prohibitions and restrictions that will be in force during the lockdown:

• business entities engaged in public catering activities (bars, restaurants, cafes, etc.), are not allowed to receive visitors, except for activities with targeted delivery, takeaway orders, and public catering establishments at airports;
• no reception of visitors by entertainment venues;
• no reception of visitors by business entities that carry out activities in the field of trade and consumer services, except for:
  • trade exclusively in goods related to foodstuffs on trading areas where at least 60% are intended for food products, pharmaceuticals, medical products, hygiene and personal-care products, means of communication, veterinary products, feeding stuff, seeds, and plant protection products. Trade in other goods is to be performed by means of orders delivery;
  • trade in fuels;
  • activities in provision of financial services, activities of financial institutions and activities of encashment and transportation of currency values, activities of postal operators, as well as medical practice, veterinary practice, activities of petrol stations (with catering areas closed), activities of vehicles maintenance and repair, hairdressing and beauty salons by appointment only;
• no reception of visitors to cultural institutions and cultural mass events, except for work of historical and cultural reserves, business entities associated with production of audiovisual works, in particular filming and videography, provided that access to the place of filming (filming site) is restricted for unauthorized persons, and provided that personnel (except actors during the filming process) are required to use protective equipment;
• no reception of visitors to gyms, fitness centres, swimming pools, except for visits by athletes of the national teams of Ukraine and their coaches, subject to appropriate sanitary and anti-epidemic measures;
• all mass (entertaining, sports, social, advertising and other) events are restricted, except for:
  • organization of skiing leisure (with catering establishments and salespoints of alcoholic drinks closed);
  • Christmas and New Year celebrations (with no concerts, fairs and foodcourts);
  • official sports events included in the Unified calendar plan of fitness, health, recreation and sports events of Ukraine and matches of team game sports of professional sports clubs, without spectators;
• operation of catering establishments and hotel food-serving areas from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. is restricted, except for provision of catering services to hotel rooms upon customer request;
• operation of non-food markets is restricted;
• students’ attendance at educational institutions is not allowed, except for pre-school and special educational institutions.