A day after President Vladimir Putin announced a nine-day paid national holiday in a bid to stem the spread of Covid 19, hotel reservations in the seaside town of Sochi surged. The rush for Russia’s most popular Black Sea beaches forced the regional governor to issue a clarification, along with additional measures to deter the last minute tourists. “This is not a week of additional vacation,” Veniamin Kondratiev said. Hotel bookings, flights, and the operation of shopping centres and resorts would be curtailed, he added.
The dash to the Russian seaside comes after weeks of public statements from Mr Putin and his government that the coronavirus pandemic was “under control” after authorities closed off international flights and ordered travellers entering the country into quarantine.
The rising number of Covid 19 cases in Moscow and the quarantines enforced throughout Europe and the US, led the Kremlin to change tack last week. In steps now familiar everywhere coronavirus strikes, it has requested people to stay at home and many businesses to close over fears that a sharp increase in infections could overwhelm the cash-strapped state health system.
The measures are an additional blow to the Russian economy: last month, Mr Putin harmed its growth potential by walking away from an oil production pact with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh triggered a price war that sent the price of crude – Russia’s key export – down to 18-year lows. Now, the Covid 19 pandemic could cause gross domestic product to fall 2. 7 per cent in 2020, according to BCS Global Markets.