KIEV, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government will prepare for stricter quarantine restrictions if the "weekend quarantine" does not give positive results in the next few weeks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in his official Telegram channel on Tuesday.
Shmyhal stressed that each day of quarantine postpones introducing tougher measures and called for people to comply with restrictions.
"If we do not demonstrate the necessary reduction in the number of social contacts during the 'weekend quarantine,' then according to National Security and Defense Council's data, we will have 20,000 new patients every day in just 3 weeks," Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal also noted that there is no need to deploy mobile hospitals now, but the preparation work is underway.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Health Minister Maxym Stepanov said that the Cabinet of Ministers had allocated 118 million Hryvnia (4.2 million U.S. dollars) to equip mobile hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 11, Ukraine decided to introduce a weekend quarantine in the country from Nov. 14 to Nov. 30.
Under the weekend quarantine, mass events with over 20 people, beauty salons, and shopping and entertainment facilities will be prohibited from operating on weekends in Ukraine.
As of Tuesday, Ukraine has registered a total of 557,657 COVID-19 cases, including 9,856 deaths, while 250,983 patients have recovered, according to the health ministry. Enditem