On 11 March the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic; as the coronavirus rapidly spreads across the world, and there are also cases of people in Ukraine who are infected or even died due to the virus, humanitarian actors and Clusters in Ukraine were reached out to elaborate a response plan with mitigation and prevention measures.

 

Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Response Plan focus predominantly on the Eastern Conflict Area in Ukraine, narrowing the agencies’ operational presence and outreach capacities to that area. In the worst-case scenario, when the rapid spread of the infection overlaps with the conflict-affected area, the mobile brigades will have to reach certain settlements along the line of contact including those with limited access and the isolated ones. These villages and cities have little or no capacity, both institutional and human resources, to operate any kind of emergency, including measures for handling quarantine.

 

The existing state medical entities are not designed for this type of situation, and would not be able to provide the brigades of medical and paramedical staff to the patients in their own homes, handle an additional number of patients, and adhere to proper conditions for both staff and patients. The existing medical facilities in villages are designed to provide a first aid type of support and often are small stand-alone one-story buildings with limited indoor space.