KYIV, April 20 – Ukraine will probably extend quarantine for several weeks as projections show the county is not likely to hit the peak of coronavirus cases before early May, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Monday.

The government issued a stay-at-home order for most of the country between March 24 and April 24, but the projections show the peak of cases is yet to come.

“The Cabinet of Ministers expects the peak of coronavirus cases in early May,” Shmyhal told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a meeting on Monday, according to the presidential office. “After the peak is passed, anti-crisis measures to support the economy will be launched.”

Ukraine’s economy faces unprecedented pressure with the launch of the quarantine and any move to extend the lockdown will further deteriorate the country’s economic contraction. Each additional month of lockdown is estimated to add 2.5 percentage points to the contraction in annual terms, analysts said.

Viktor Liashko, the surgeon general at the Healthcare Ministry, said his staff is currently preparing a draft proposal for the Healthcare Minister to extend the coronavirus quarantine. However, the ministry will also examine the possibility of allowing some non-essential businesses to gradually start reopening, but the final decision will be based on the Cabinet’s vote.

“The quarantine is due to end on April 24, that’s why we are preparing the draft proposal for the minister to request the Cabinet to extend the quarantine,” Liashko said in an interview with Ukrayina-24 television. “After that the Cabinet will be making its decision.”

The number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine rose by 261 to 5,710 on Monday, while the number of deaths increased by 10 to 151, according to the Healthcare Ministry. This is the third consecutive day that the number of coronavirus cases declines in Ukraine.

The International Monetary Fund recently praised Ukraine for handling the coronavirus pandemic, but said the country has to approve several pieces of legislation to enable resumption of lending.

The quarantine helped to slow down the spread of the virus as the Healthcare Ministry’s projections show that without the lockdown in place the number of cases would have probably increase to 120,000, Liashko said. (tl/ez)