Russia records 10,000 Covid-19 infections for third consecutive day
Moscow, May 5 (efe-epa).- Russia recorded over 10,000 Covid-19 infections for the third consecutive day, bringing the total number of cases to over 155,000, according to health authorities.
In the last 24 hours, 10,102 new infections and 95 deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of infections to 155,370 and deaths to 1,451, according to the government’s daily report.
The Russian capital, with 80,115 cases and 816 deaths, is the country’s hotspot, followed by the Moscow province, with 15,761 infections and 127 deaths.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has warned around 2 percent of Moscow’s population, some 250,000 people, are infected with coronavirus, according to expert mathematical calculations.
Restrictive measures like self-isolation and the use of digital passes in order to move around the city will not be lifted until the pandemic subsides, and so far locals have adhered to the new rules.
The City Council has announced that in the next few days subway users will have to wear masks which will be sold at ticket offices.
Red Square was desolate on Tuesday morning, like most downtown Moscow.
Pushkin Square, a favourite hangout for Muscovites, was also empty, as were the neighbouring boulevards where only a few municipal workers who were cleaning could be seen on the streets.
In the subway, the atmosphere was a little more lively with plenty of passengers, many sporting masks and gloves, but never so many that keeping the 1.5-meter distance between people was not possible.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with the cabinet to examine how a de-escalation of restrictions would unfold in practice.
Although the lockdown in place has reduced the spread of Covid-19, it has also led to a spike in the number of domestic violence reports.
“According to NGO data, since April 10 the number of victims of domestic violence has increased 2.5 times,” Human Rights activist and lawyer Tatyana Moskalkova said in an interview with RIA-Novosti agency on Tuesday.
Moskalkova suggested waving the use of digital passes for victims of gender-based violence so they can visit safe houses and reception centres to file reports.
The health sector is facing a lack of personnel and as such the Ministry of Health has authorized Medic students to voluntarily carry out paid internships in hospitals where patients with Covid-19 are being treated.
The Alliance of Doctors, which is critical of the government, has denounced that the measure is “voluntary-obligatory” since centres have enough resources to force their students to take the internships.
“Do you know why they are calling the students in a chaotic and urgent way as if they were at the front (of war) in 1941? Because the doctors and nurses who work 12 hours without means of personal protection are leaving,” the Alliance of Medical Students (AEM) tweeted.
The AEM recalled that Russian law prohibits the provision of medical services without appropriate certification. EFE-EPA
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