Russia on Wednesday recorded a new record of COVID-19-related deaths in 24 hours, amid the devastating epidemic outbreak that is forcing the Kremlin to consider national containment measures.
In the last 24 hours, 1,028 deaths caused by the new coronavirus have been recorded, a record, as well as 34,073 new infections, according to government figures.
In recent days, the country has several times broken records for daily contaminations and deaths due to COVID-19, in the midst of the acceleration of the epidemic favored by a sluggish vaccination and weak health restrictions.
A sign of the Kremlin’s concern, Vladimir Putin is due to chair a government meeting on Wednesday devoted to the epidemic at the end of which new measures could be announced, in particular a week of leave.
On Tuesday, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Health, Tatiana Golikova, recommended declaring the period from October 30 to November 7 unemployed across the country.
In the past, the Russian president has repeatedly decreed such paid holidays in an attempt to curb the epidemic. Announced for a short period, these nonworking periods have sometimes been extended to long weeks.
Mr. Putin has always preferred this measure, intended to limit the movement of people and therefore of the virus, rather than confining the population, an unpopular restriction which also risks slowing down the fragile economic recovery.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin, which until then has mainly left the regions to take their own health measures, seems to resolve to act in the face of the deterioration of the epidemic situation.
Vaccination lagging behind
Russia is the country in Europe hardest hit by the pandemic, with nearly 230,000 dead, according to the government report. This number is however largely underestimated, the national agency of statistics Rosstat having, it, counted more than 400,000 victims at the end of August.
Faced with this observation, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced Tuesday “urgent measures” to protect the most vulnerable categories, in particular the elderly, while the number of serious cases is increasing “day by day”.
The Moscow authorities have thus ordered the compulsory vaccination of 80% of public service employees, against 60% currently, by January 1, 2022, the confinement of all unvaccinated over 60 years of age from October 25 to February 25 and the teleworking of “at least 30%” of company staff.
But, for many experts, the real battle against the virus is playing out in the field of vaccination, where Russia, yet one of the first countries to have developed a serum against COVID-19, is lagging behind.
Indeed, less than a third of some 144 million Russians are fully vaccinated, according to the specialized site Gogov which establishes a daily assessment, the majority of the population remaining skeptical vis-à-vis local vaccines.
According to independent polls, more than half of Russians do not plan to be vaccinated.
Faced with this situation, the Kremlin seems to be losing patience. Its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, on Tuesday called on the Russians to be “more responsible” instead of “blaming the state for everything”.
He admitted, however, that the authorities had not done enough to explain to the Russians that “vaccination has no alternative”.
Faced with vaccine reluctance despite the outbreak of the epidemic, some Russian regions have reintroduced the obligation to present a health pass to access public places.
Thus, Saint Petersburg, the second city of the country, announced Monday the establishment of such a certificate from November 1 to access sporting or cultural events bringing together more than 40 people, and from December 1 to restaurants and shops.