Ukraine's overburdened doctors in desperate virus fight

Kobevko, 37, is the only infectious disease specialist at the infection division of a hospital in the western city of Chernivtsi that is supposed to accommodate 60 patients but now holds about 100. The deplorable conditions — broken or substandard equipment, a lack of drugs, low wages — reflects the meltdown of Ukraine’s health care system, which has been quickly overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic even with the country's relatively low number of cases. Medical workers account for about a fifth of all coronavirus cases in Ukraine, with more than 50 getting infected daily. Ukraine's president has sharply criticized the reforms ordered by his predecessor, warning it could mean closing more than 300 hospitals and leaving 50,000 medical workers jobless. Kobevko said her basic monthly salary of $175 — on a par with the nation's current minimum wage — reflects the general low regard of medical professionals in Ukraine.