Former Ukrainian premier tests positive for COVID-19

MOSCOW

Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Timoshenko has tested positive for COVID-19, her press secretary announced on Sunday.

She is in serious condition, and her husband and daughter have also been infected, Marina Soroka said on Facebook.

Tymoshenko is a member of Ukrainian parliament -- the Verkhovna Rada -- and leader of Batkivshchyna, one of country's biggest political parties.

She co-led the Orange Revolution, and was the first woman appointed prime minister of Ukraine, serving in the office from Jan. 24 to Sept. 8, 2005, and again from Dec. 18, 2007 to March 4, 2010.

Tymoshenko finished second in the 2010 and 2014 Ukrainian presidential election runoff, and third in 2019.

Almost 2,000 new cases -- 1,987 -- were registered in Ukraine over the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 104,958, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the virus has claimed 2,271 lives in Ukraine while 51,735 people have recovered.

The infection was first confirmed on March 3 in the Chernivtsi region. On March 17, authorities announced a nationwide lockdown.

Since Aug. 1, Ukrainian regions are divided into four zones, where different restrictions apply depending on the epidemic situation.