Moscow goes into lockdown as Covid deaths spike

Moscow, Oct 28 (EFE).- Moscow on Thursday entered a 10-day lockdown that will require all non-essential businesses to shut down in a bid to reverse the rapidly worsening coronavirus situation in Russia.

The situation has been coming to a head for weeks. On Thursday, Russia’s daily Covid-19 death toll reached a new high of 1,519, while over 40,000 infections were also registered within 24 hours.

The lockdown, ordered by Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin, will see restaurants, bars, shopping centers, cinemas and fitness clubs shut down until November 7.

Supermarkets and pharmacies are to remain open.

It coincides with President Vladimir Putin’s decree of suspending work from October 30 to November 7 to stem the spread of the virus amid sluggish vaccinations in the Euro-asian nation.

Mass events are to be banned during the shutdown, while theaters and museums will continue to operate at 50% capacity but visitors will need to show a vaccine pass to enter.

So far, only around a third of Russia’s 145 million population have been fully inoculated, according to official figures.EFE

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