Residents of a town in eastern Ukraine blocked a bridge and set fires as citizens returning from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus, were transported to a hospital for quarantine.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chastised protesters gathered along the Vorskla River outside the town of Novi Sanzhary to prevent government vehicles from passing as 3,000 Ukrainian national guardsmen and police worked to unblock the bridge.
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“Unfortunately, not all of us can be proud of the same humane reaction,” said Zelensky. “Attempts to block highways, block a hospital, and prevent Ukrainian citizens from getting back to Ukraine — this shows by no means the best side of our character.”
Videos posted on Twitter show clashes between the town’s residents and authorities.
Ukrainians protests against Coronavirus quarantine hospital in their town pic.twitter.com/PUjpdDQVe7
— Russian Market (@russian_market) February 20, 2020
Ukrainians vs. Coronavirus hospital pic.twitter.com/61zl20bkZc
— Russian Market (@russian_market) February 20, 2020
Zelensky said the quarantined hospital will be “completely isolated,” while local authorities promised the patients will receive isolated rooms and that the town’s sewage system will be decontaminated to battle the spread of the mystery illness.
Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov urged residents of the town to remain calm as evacuees return from the site of the coronavirus outbreak.
“I call on people to stay calm, do not panic or have hysterics, do not believe unnecessary rumors,” said Avakov. “We did everything to protect our citizens from potential threats. The chances and probability of some consequences are very low.”
More than 2,000 people have died of coronavirus, with over 75,000 cases reported in mainland China. The illness has spread faster and with a higher death rate than similar respiratory diseases such as SARS, and a new report from the Chinese CDC claims the fatality rate associated with coronavirus is 2.6%, which would make it 20 times more deadly than the seasonal flu.
