Russia’s one-week work suspension to tackle Covid soar begins
Moscow, Oct 30 (EFE).- Russia’s nationwide week-long workplace shutdown came into force on Saturday in a bid to curb record spikes in coronavirus cases and deaths.
The restrictions took effect as the country reported 40,251 cases, another national record; the highest since the pandemic began, and 1,160 deaths, three shy of Friday’s all-time daily record.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin authorized the regions to bring forward or extend the shutdown according to their respective epidemic situation.
On Thursday, Moscow entered a 10-day lockdown that will require restaurants, bars, shopping centers, cinemas and fitness clubs shut down until November 7.
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.
Some 53 percent of the Russians approve the measures imposed by Putin, compared to 40 percent who do not see it necessary, a poll by the state-run VTsIOM study center showed.
The poll revealed that 72 percent of citizens will spend non-working days at home, 25 percent will work and 2 percent will travel to another region.
The authorities blame the soar in infections in particular to people’s hesitance to get vaccinated as well as on the more aggressive Delta variant of the coronavirus and lax compliance with sanitary measures.
Thus far, 48 percent of Russia’s 145 million population have been fully inoculated, according to official figures. EFE
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