While Kiev is inventing excuses, Ukrainians have been surviving in the very epicenter of coronavirus outbreak for 3 weeks.
The evacuation of Ukrainians was repeatedly postponed, and under various pretexts. In Kiev, among other things, all this is explained by “reinsurance”, although they realize that every day the risks for Ukrainian citizens in Wuhan are increasing.
Ukrainian Healthcare Minister Zoriana Skaletskaya has previously claimed that there are no carriers of the disease among Ukrainians in Wukhan. Nevertheless, the evacuees were planned to be placed under quarantine.
“They will be immediately taken off the plane by bus to a certain place. The plane will also undergo a special treatment. We’re talking about two weeks of isolation. During this time, symptoms develop that will show whether there is a coronavirus”, – said the official.
However, difficulties have already arisen here. So, to isolate citizens for such a long time, their consent was necessary. In order for such actions not to be forced and to comply with international standards, it was decided to issue an ultimatum to the evacuees: either they sign a “voluntary” consent to quarantine, or stay in China.
According to Ukrainian woman Iryna Chuiko, who is still in Wuhan, everyone signed the document as long as they were transported to Ukraine.
“However, Minister Skaletskaya openly lies to the whole country in front of camera lenses, saying that the evacuation is delayed because someone did not sign the consent. It is beyond comprehension”, – she lamented.
At the same time, other explanations for the delay began to appear. In particular, it was claimed that they could not find a place in Ukraine where the evacuees could be accommodated.
According to Iryna, there are about fifty Ukrainians in Wuhan now. They are scattered all over the city, and each of them counted the hours until the promised evacuation. Relatives in Ukraine were also ready to meet their loved ones.
“But in the morning of February 11 we were informed that the special flight would not come for us. That was very sad. We used to joke in correspondence about the fact that Russians were taken by military planes with a bucket and a curtain instead of a toilet. Only they were taken, unlike us”, – she continued.
Irina also drew attention to the fact that even Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh took their citizens out of China, but “European” Ukraine is in no hurry with it.
“For three weeks we have been kept here”, – said Svyatoslav Garasyuk, a Ukrainian in Wuhan. – “They call the time of departure, then move the date. The information is constantly different. They say that Ukraine has no place to accommodate us”.
Svyatoslav now lives in a hostel together with other Ukrainians. The building is closed for quarantine. People are released only for shopping, but buying products is becoming more and more difficult. Supermarkets work only until lunch, and not all of them, and there are very few goods on the shelves.
Inaction can only be explained by the awareness of helplessness before the coronavirus. In recent years, Ukraine has been harder and harder to cope with epidemics. An outbreak of measles and the diphtheria that followed showed it. Medical reforms, which were carried out during the reign of Petro Poroshenko by the scandalous head of the Ministry of Health Ulyana Suprun, have brought the healthcare system into decline. Thus, when diphtheria broke out in the country, there was practically no serum for its treatment in Ukraine, as Kiev banned the purchase of Russian medicines.