Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, says he sought to become an example of what it is to contract the novel coronavirus and what the disease does to people.

“I wanted to go through this stage myself. To make sure people perceive it less stressfully… When we had a moment of depression, we gathered. I suggested the team: “Let me get infected and be immediately isolated on Bankova [The Presidential Office HQ in Kyiv]. And I’ll get through this alright”. So that people understand it really is scary, you can get sick, you do feel bad. And I will let this go through me and show them. But at the same time, people will understand that it’s no plague. That"s to make sure they aren’t depressed. At the very onset, there was a very scary moment when people thought we would all die”, - said Zelensky.

However, the idea was never implemented: “We decided it was too much. My family would not have forgiven him such a step. They would say I’m crazy. And they’d be right, actually”.