Ukraine has registered 32,393 new cases of Covid-19 on Jan. 27. It is the highest-ever number detected in the country since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Out of them, the largest number of cases have been recorded in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (2,862), Lviv Oblast (2,696), Zhytomyr Oblast (2,467), the city of Kyiv (2,012), Odesa Oblast (1,939), and Sumy Oblast (1,909). On the previous day, Kyiv was leading in new cases.
The previous highest number of daily cases, 27,377, was recorded in Ukraine on Nov. 3.
Although the infection rate has been growing for the last three weeks, the number of hospitalizations is twice lower compared to the outbreak in the spring of 2021. According to Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Lyashko, the low hospitalization rate is observed due to nationwide vaccination. Still, Ukraine's vaccination level remains relatively low: Only 46% of the adult population are fully vaccinated.
Ukraine’s western regions, where the level of vaccination is the lowest in the country, have detected the largest number of new cases of Covid-19 and hospitalizations. Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast has 62,9% of its Covid-19 wards already occupied, which is the highest number in Ukraine.
It also registered the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations compared to any other region in Ukraine on the same day: Out of 3,016 people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 on Jan. 26, 251 were in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
The Health Ministry announced the beginning of a new Covid-19 wave on Jan. 19. The ministry expects this wave to peak in February.
The highly transmissible Covid-19 variant Omicron was first detected in Ukraine on Dec. 18. As of Jan. 24, the strain has reportedly spread in 17 out of the country's 24 oblasts, but hasn’t yet become the dominant variant in Ukraine.