With the recent increase in the number of new coronavirus infections, Ukraine has gone beyond the limits set by the European Commission for countries whose residents will be allowed to the Schengen area as tourists.
As you know, the EU planned to open its borders to third-country nationals on July 1.
However, according to the Yevropeiska Pravda, the official statistics of the Ministry of Health have already exceeded the criteria in the draft decision of the EC published in the media.
According to the draft decision, which has not yet been finalized, the main criterion for opening EU borders to an individual country’s residents will be the number of new infections over the last 14 days in that country.
According to the publication, the debate in the EU is mainly about whether that number shall be less than 16 new infections per 100 thousand inhabitants or less than 20 new infections (16 is the average in the EU; the rate of 20 will allow to let more foreigners in).
The new rules should take effect on July 1; untill then, there is a blanket ban on non-essential trips for foreigners, including citizens of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine cannot count on any of these options.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health as of June 24, 10,723 new patients have been identified in the last 14 days. According to the State Statistics Service (these official data will probably be used by the EU), Ukraine has a population of 41.8 million. This means that Ukraine’s incidence rate in 14 days is 25.65 cases per 100,000, which exceeds both EU criteria. In addition, this figure continues to grow every day.
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