Ukraine government extends lockdown measures until Aug 31, softens curbs

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's government on Wednesday extended COVID-19 lockdown measures until Aug. 31, but eased some of the restrictions, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.

Shmygal said all Ukrainian regions are now in the "green zone" but the country "must be ready for any development".

Shmygal did not specify which measures will be eased.

On Monday, Ukraine registered 420 COVID cases - the lowest daily number of new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours for nearly a year..

On Wednesday, the health ministry reported 1,045 new coronavirus cases with 78 deaths.

Ukraine, which has a population of 41 million, has been among the most affected European countries, with around 2.23 million COVID-19 cases and 51,847 deaths as of June 16.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, writing by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Catherine Evans)