Russia’s capital has ordered workers to remain at home this week and reopened several makeshift coronavirus hospitals after cases of Covid-19 surged to the highest levels this year. The additional vacation days announced by Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin reflect the growing unease among Russian officials about rising infections, and a shift in rhetoric from triumphalist proclamations that the country had weathered the worst of the pandemic.
“During the past week the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infections has sharply deteriorated,” Sobyanin said in a statement announcing the new rules, which apply to all non-essential workers in the city. “It is impossible not to react to such a situation . . . To stop the growth of infections and to save people’s lives.”
That contrasts with remarks by president Vladimir Putin earlier this month that life was “gradually returning to normal . . . half of the world is staying at home. Our situation is better than in many other countries.” Russia reported 14,723 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily tally since February, of which 7,704 were in Moscow, the city’s highest daily total since December. Experts have pointed to Russia’s decision to lift lockdown measures last summer and its slow pace of vaccinations as the likely reasons behind the surge.
Fearing the economic disaster of a prolonged shutdown, Putin lifted federal lockdown measures in July and the country weathered a huge second wave of infections last autumn and winter, during which its regions were worst-hit.
At the same time, despite being the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, the slow pace of production and distribution, and a high level of vaccine hesitancy and administrative distrust has frustrated vaccination efforts. Three more Russian jabs have been rolled out since Sputnik V, but still only 12 percent of Russia’s 144m population have had at least one shot, well below the European average. Putin himself waited until March to get vaccinated, in private and without naming the jab used, but has since urged all citizens to have the injection.