Editor’s Note:

As I walked with labored breaths yesterday down a corridor of a leading Kyiv Covid ward, I listened to a physiotherapist tell me that every room is occupied. He told me it is the same on the floor above, at the Oberig Health Center, near Kyiv’s Zoo. Across Kyiv, a city of 4 million, it is the same picture: no room at the Covid inn. Covid hospitals near full occupancies will drive Mayor Klitchko today to reimpose the capital’s third major quarantine in one year. Starting Saturday morning, restaurants will serve only takeout customers, shopping centers will be largely closed, and gyms will be closed. More important, if you get sick from Covid – as I did last week — think of getting a friend to drive you to Kharkiv. With Best Regards, Jim Brooke