Covid-19: Moscow shuts down non-essential services to stem new epidemic wave

Published on : 10/28/2021 – 11:06

Non-working period, schools and restaurants closed: a series of health restrictions came into force, Thursday, October 28, in Moscow, in order to contain the Covid-19 epidemic which has accelerated in Russia due to a sluggish vaccination.

Restaurants, beauty salons, clothing or furniture stores, gyms, dance schools and other services deemed “non-essential” will remain closed until November 7.

Only places selling medicines, food and basic necessities have been allowed to open, according to Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, the city by far the most affected by the epidemic in Russia.

Most businesses and public services were also ordered to stop working during this period. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin declared a period of non-work at the national level from October 30 to November 7, in the hope of slowing the movement of people and therefore of the virus.

But in the absence of compulsory confinement, many Russians plan to go on vacation: the seaside resort of Sochi expects to receive 100,000 visitors and the sites of tour operators are taken by storm.

Record contaminations and deaths

Russia on Thursday recorded a new record of contaminations and deaths linked to Covid-19. According to the government’s toll, 1,159 people have died and 40,096 have been infected in the past 24 hours. This massacre is linked to the low vaccination rate and to which the authorities were slow to react.

The total death toll has now reached more than 233,000 people, according to government figures, making Russia the most bereaved country in Europe. The national statistics agency, which has a broader definition of deaths from Covid, reported at the end of August a much worse toll: more than 400,000 deaths.

The vaccination campaign remains laborious because of the mistrust and the wait-and-see attitude of the Russians. Barely a third of them are fully immune, according to the specialized site Gogov, while the country has developed four vaccines.

Despite this situation, the public authorities still refuse, for the time being, to any confinement or curfew, for fear of experiencing an already fragile economy. Since the start of the pandemic, this is the fourth time that Vladimir Putin has declared a nonworking period.

With AFP