The State Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies of Ukraine on October 15 decided that four regions of the neighboring country will be placed on red alert as from October 18 owing to the high number of COVID-19 cases there. These are Odessa Oblast, which neighbors Moldova, the southern regions of Zaporozhye and Nipru (former Dnepropetrovsk) and the western part of Donetsk Oblast that remained under the jurisdiction of Ukraine, the Ukrainian newspaper “Courier of the Week” informed, with reference to the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Nemchinov, being quoted by IPN.

According to the quoted source, entry to Ukraine in the absence of COVID certificates will be banned as from October 21. The people living in “a red area” cannot travel by bus and train and cannot fly by plane to other regions without documents showing that the vaccination series was completed, a negative COVID-19 test result and a recovery certificate.

The Republic of Moldova has a number of checkpoints at the border with Ukraine that cover Odessa Oblast, both on the Transnistrian segment in the eastern part and on the Giurgiulești – Palanca segment in southern Moldova.