Ukraine president compares virus to Chernobyl

Ukraines president on Wednesday likened the coronavirus pandemic with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster as he urged citizens to stay home.

A reactor exploded at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in then-Soviet Ukraine in 1986, spewing radiation across vast territories in the worlds worst nuclear catastrophe.

Soviet authorities initially tried to hide the explosion from the public and many people remained unaware of the radiation hazard for several days.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that no one was afraid because the radiation is invisible - just as the coronavirus.

He chastised Ukrainians from flouting government calls to stay home, saying Im asking you all to grow up.

Ukraine so far has registered 669 coronavirus cases and 17 deaths.