Opposition leader, former Prime Minister and head of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) Party Yulia Tymoshenko has been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) and is in a serious condition, it was reported on August 23.

Ukraine is in the midst of a second wave of its epidemic, with new cases rising to a record 2,000 a day last week, after the effective initial lockdown was relaxed to limit the damage to the country's fragile economy.

The news was confirmed by Tymoshenko’s spokesperson, Marina Soroka. “Yes, unfortunately, it is true. The test showed that Yulia has COVID-19. Her condition was identified as serious. Her temperature reached 39 Celsius,” Soroka said on social media.

The three-time presidential candidate is currently one of the opposition leaders but her popularity has waned in recent years.

The authorities are currently fighting a losing battle against the virus. A total of 1,987 new cases and 27 deaths were reported on Sunday. They include 306 cases in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Sunday, where 18 new patients were children.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on August 19 that if the tide were not turned soon, it could overwhelm the healthcare system. “We already have a wave of 2,000 [new cases] per day. It is very dangerous. We cannot repurpose all hospitals. So the increase of patients will just shut down the healthcare system completely, and the state will be unable to do anything,” he said.

Nearly 105,000 people have been infected in Ukraine since the start of the outbreak, 2,271 have died.