Russia yesterday moved toward a lockdown across the world’s largest country by area to try and halt the spread of COVID-19, following Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s order for residents to stay in their homes.
Heads of all Russia’s regions should adopt similar restrictions as those announced in the capital and surrounding areas, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a televised meeting with deputy premiers.
Moscow’s 12.7 million people were ordered to stay home starting yesterday, with limited exceptions for emergencies, in the strictest measures yet imposed in a major Russian city.
Photo: Reuters
Confirmed infections in Moscow jumped by a fifth overnight to 1,226 and accounted for two-thirds of the nation’s total of 1,836 cases. Nine people in Russia have died from coronavirus, official data showed.
Sobyanin said in a Web site statement that the expansion of the virus in Europe’s largest capital city “has entered a new phase.”
He said that the authorities would shortly introduce passes to permit movements outside the home in the coming days, with a “smart system” of remote monitoring to ensure compliance.
Other than for emergency medical reasons or work obligations, residents are allowed to walk outside their homes only to visit their nearest food store or pharmacy, to take out trash, or to take pet animals within 100m of their buildings. While outside, people are required to maintain a distance of at least 1.5m from others.
The lockdown comes after Sobyanin last week ordered nonessential businesses to close to slow the spread of the illness. He has been among Russia’s most vocal proponents of tough restrictions to counter coronavirus in a crisis that has undermined the Kremlin’s ability to get its message out clearly.
“Movement in the city is down by two-thirds and that’s very good,” Sobyanin said in the statement. “But it’s obvious that far from everyone has heard our message.”
The WHO’s representative in Russia complained at the weekend that Muscovites were flouting the authorities’ advice to stay home and keep “social distancing.” The capital was packed with people out on the streets in warm spring weather on Saturday and other regions saw a sudden influx of Moscow residents taking advantage of a week-long paid time off decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Nikolai Malyshev, a leading infectious diseases specialist in the Russian Ministry of Health, said on state TV last week that Russia is readying itself for an “explosive development like a nuclear reaction” with the coronavirus epidemic.
In the near future, “large numbers of people will fall ill and need medical treatment,” he said.
Sobyanin said people would still be able to leave or enter Moscow, but the new rules are aimed at restricting “moving around the city without any reason.”
Putin on Wednesday last week announced that this week would be a nonworking one, but he did not commit to any drastic measures limiting movement, instead promising benefits to get companies and individuals through the crisis. After signs that many Russians had interpreted the measure as an opportunity to take vacation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday told reporters that the president’s statement was really an order to work from home.
While its total number of declared cases is still low by comparison with many other countries, Russia has been adopting progressively stricter measures against coronavirus in the past week.
As of Friday, the government halted all international flights and Mishustin called on regions to close most businesses, while stopping short of ordering them to do so.
The government closed all of Russia’s land borders effective yesterday.
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