KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian shops, restaurants and transport shut down on Tuesday as the country tightened restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus, while police arrested five people suspected of trying to rob 100,000 surgical masks at gunpoint in Kiev. Activists of the National Corps political party wearing protective gear take part in a rally demanding to quarantine lawmakers amid coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, in front of the Ukrainian parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko The country has seven confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far, including one death. The government has encouraged people to stay at home wherever possible except to buy food and medicine, but has stopped short of introducing curfews. Following a series of emergency steps introduced by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, parliament in a special session on Tuesday approved measures including fines and prison sentences for people who broke mandatory quarantine. The economic fallout from the epidemic also continued to bite as the hryvnia currency slipped to 27 to the dollar for the first time since June 2019. The central bank said it would not impose foreign currency restrictions and added it had $25 billion in reserves to continue market interventions. Nevertheless it… Read full this story
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