Ukrainian health minister tests positive for COVID-19

KIEV - Ukraine's Health Minister Maxym Stepanov said Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

"Despite the caution and observance of all safety rules today, I got a positive test for COVID-19," said Stepanov on his Facebook page, urging Ukrainian people to comply with quarantine measures and not to visit crowded places.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, who on Monday were diagnosed with the coronavirus, are currently in isolated wards at the hospital, online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported on Thursday.

As of Saturday, a total of 525,176 COVID-19 cases, with 9,508 deaths, have been registered in Ukraine, while 238,811 patients have recovered, according to the health ministry.