In connection with the deterioration of the epidemic situation, the government of Ukraine introduces the daily work of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

"An extraordinary meeting of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response has been held. In particular, among the topics tackled were the issues of changing the strategy of combating COVID-19, increasing population testing, strengthening control over compliance with the conditions of self-isolation and tracking possible contacts. Shmyhal noted that due to the deteriorating epidemic situation, the Government is introducing daily work of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response and strengthening measures to monitor compliance with quarantine rules," the governmental press service said.

According to the Prime Minister, by September 15, 2020, the number of daily PCR testing should increase up to 30,000. Categorization of persons tested for infection should also be introduced.

"We should introduce a compulsory marking of the tests of the National Police, doctors, teachers and some other categories of workers separately. In this way we will be able to get more detailed statistics and understanding in which categories the disease spreads faster," said the Prime Minister.

Another objective of the Government, as Shmyhal noted, should be to improve the so-called system "Detection-testing-isolation-contacts," in particular, the creation of a system for tracking contact persons through surveys.

Minister of Health Maxym Stepanov stated that as of today more than 28,000 active patients with COVID-19 and almost 100,000 high-risk exposure contact persons are staying in self-isolation.

"On average, we have four-five contact persons for each case. It is important that all people who are high-risk exposure contacts, without exception, are in self-isolation in accordance with the established rules through the use of the application "Diia. Act at Home", said Stepanov.

Following the extraordinary meeting of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response, the Prime Minister commissioned the following:

- to work out the mechanism of sending epidemiologists of the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection to the laboratory centers of the Ministry of Health to conduct epidemic investigations;

- for the heads of regional state administrations (RSA) and the Ministry of Health to intensify the work aimed to increase the number of beds with oxygen supply in the hospitals of the second wave of admission of patients with COVID-19. At present, such hospitals have 10,300 beds, as well as 1,442 mechanical ventilators;

- for the National Police to report daily during the Commission's meeting on the inspections carried out for compliance with the quarantine rules;

- for the Ministry of Digital Transformation to provide with daily information on the number of installations of the "Diia. Act at Home" application.