1) As Russian forces continue their invasion and bomb Ukrainian hospitals – a clear war crime – the nation of 44 million people is also facing a renewed threat in the #pandemic, a calculated form of biowarfare, if you will, on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s part.
2) As NBC News reported on Saturday (and as I’ve flagged in two Twitter threads since last week), Ukraine was already facing its largest #COVID spike in cases yet, with a seven-day average of 37,408 on Feb. 10. It has also been struggling with a polio outbreak since last October.
3) And now Ukraine’s very hospitals that are intended to treat #COVID and polio patients (not to mention the victims of Russia's invasion) are being bombed on purpose. Dymytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, condemned this tactic on Thursday as “beyond evil.”
4) It’s not just that Ukraine, like every other nation, was already approaching the third year in the #pandemic. The chart below by CoVariants.org shows that as of Feb. 21, all #COVID cases in Ukraine are now screening for the super contagious Omicron variant of concern.
5) And more recently, these scientists diligently tracking #coronavirus variants worldwide pointed out that half of all the new cases in Ukraine are arising from the #Omicron stealth sub-variant BA.2, known to be at least 30% more contagious than the original variant of concern.
6) Ukraine’s #COVID deaths were already rising before Russia’s invasion. On Feb. 24, the day Russia started firing missiles into Ukraine, the country’s rate of #COVID deaths was nearly four times higher than Canada’s. Please take a look at the chart below by Our World in Data.
7) At the same time, only 35.02% of Ukraine’s adult population has received the standard two vaccine doses to protect against #COVID19. And as the chart by Our World in Data below reveals, only 1.73% of the Ukrainian population has been boosted against the #Omicron variant.
8) These #COVID figures will likely become increasingly unreliable in the weeks to follow as Ukraine understandably throws all its resources into defending itself against Putin’s unprovoked aggression. Thus, Ukrainian authorities risk growing blind to the worsening contagion.
9) And as #Putinswar drags on, the #pandemic will no doubt grow worse in Ukraine in the coming months and has the potential to spread beyond its borders in Europe. Countries must take notice and respond not only to the military crisis but to contain the contagion. End of thread.
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