KIEV, April 1. /TASS/. More than 60 Ukrainians who returned from Bali two days ago have fled Kiev’s Kazatsky hotel where they were supposed to undergo quarantine, the Ukrainian News agency reported, citing Interior Ministry Spokesman Artem Shevchenko.
The latter did not specify whether the police had succeeded in bringing the quarantine breakers back.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the ministry would not authorize charter flights to bring Ukrainians home if they refused to undergo mandatory quarantine. Avakov added that the quarantine breachers would face fines of up to 17,000 hryvnia ($610).
After returning from Indonesia overnight into Monday, the Ukrainians would not leave their plane, demanding permission to undergo mandatory quarantine at home instead of in a designated hotel. Eventually, they were taken to two hotels in the country’s capital of Kiev but several people went on hunger strike against poor accommodation conditions. According to media reports, police officers were deployed to the hotels to prevent the quarantined people from leaving.
Police said that administrative legal actions would be taken against the quarantine violators.
Ukrainian lockdown
According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, the country recorded 669 coronavirus cases as of March 31. Seventeen patients have died.
Ukraine closed its borders on March 28 and thousands of the country’s citizens are now unable to return home amid coronavirus restrictions. Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on March 30 that Ukrainians should remain where they were. He clarified that more than 11,000 Ukrainian nationals sought to be repatriated.
The Ukrainian government imposed a nationwide lockdown until April 24 and declared a state of emergency.
