Ukraine raised its death toll from flu and respiratory problems on Monday, while Kiev's mayor suggested a Champions League match should be played without spectators amid a swine flu scare.
Kiev made an urgent appeal to world powers for help battling the spread of the A(H1N1) virus on Sunday, after declaring 60 people had died of respiratory complications and flu.
The health ministry raised this figure to 67 on Monday, without detailing when the deaths took place or explaining the jump in the toll.
"Sixty-seven people have died," Deputy Health Minister Vasyl Lazoryshynets said, adding that this figure "did not differ much" from previous years.
He said 255,000 cases of flu and acute respiratory illness had been registered among the country's population of 46 million. Of those 15,000 people were hospitalised, he said.
Kiev's mayor suggested the Champions League match between Inter Milan and Dynamo Kiev later in the week should take place in a stadium empty of football fans to prevent further infection.
Ukraine's neighbour Poland wrote to the European Union urging swift action to help fight the spread of flu.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was in EU members' interests to send medical help to Ukraine.
Elsewhere, Slovakia closed two pedestrian border crossings with Ukraine and ordered spot medical checks at others, according to the SITA news agency.
The Ukrainian government's announcement last week that it was implementing the toughest measures yet in Europe to combat swine flu led to panic, sparking a run on pharmacies.
Authorities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region have ordered employees of medical centers, shopping centres and public transport to wear masks over the next three days, Interfax news agency reported Monday.
Alarm over swine flu has become a political issue in Ukraine as the country gears up for January's presidential election, with rival candidates seeking to take the initiative in battling the disease.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko ordered a three-week shutdown of schools and universities, while her rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, asked the United States, the European Union and NATO for drugs and equipment to fight the spread of the virus.
On Monday Tymoshenko denounced the panic as being created "by the unscrupulous statements of certain politicians", and said the country was suffering an epidemic of normal flu with a few cases of A(H1N1).
According to the health ministry, only 22 cases, including one death, have been confirmed as the A(H1N1) virus, widely known as swine flu. The country's National Security Council however puts the number of dead at four.
Ukraine has also ordered 16 tonnes of the antiviral drug Tamiflu from Switzerland.
Source: AFP Global Edition
