“Put on the mask, please. Put on the mask …!”, Shouts up to three times a guard in a central station of the Moscow metro. But no case; the passenger passes without even turning his head in a scene typical of the entire pandemic in Russia, where a large part of the population does not wear a mask in public places or does not put it on properly. The authorities have applied a policy of a more than wide hand and, whenever the situation allowed it and in favor of the economy, they have avoided applying strong restrictive measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
But the current situation does not allow it. Never before have so many daily infections been registered as this month of October, the deceased are counted by a thousand each day and hospitals are beginning to be saturated. Despite being the first country in the world to register a vaccine, Russia is struggling to contain the covid because the majority of the population does not want to be vaccinated.
Three factors
Low vaccination rate (32%), a relaxed population and a government reluctant to tighten restrictions have triggered the covid
The Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, and the Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Gólikova, responsible for the anticovid device, listened to the dangerous figures of the pandemic in the country on Tuesday with regret. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that 1.22 million people are under medical supervision, 255,000 of them hospitalized. That means hospitals are almost full, as Russia has 274,000 beds for coronavirus patients.
A specialist in a protective suit, during the disinfection work of a chapel at the Leningradski railway station, in Moscow, on October 19
Measures taken in several regions have been insufficient, said Anna Popova, head of the Rospotrebnadzor Public Health agency. This October the infection has begun to advance in great strides. Last week there were 15.5% more cases than a week earlier, Popova said.
Since last weekend, every day more than 30,000 new cases are added to the global count. Likewise, each day a new record has been set in terms of deaths, and last weekend the rate of one thousand daily deaths was reached for the first time. This Wednesday, October 20, 1,028 were registered.
Measurements in Moscow
Non-immunized seniors will stay home for four months and service companies will vaccinate 80% of their employees
Russia is the fifth country in the world in number of infections, with more than eight million, behind the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom. More than 226,000 people have died of covid in Russia, according to official data, the highest number in Europe.
Moscow, which is the most populated region, continues to be the most affected, with some days over 6,000 infected and more than 70 deaths.
St. Petersburg, the second largest city in the country, is also suffering. In the last 24 hours they registered 3,274 new cases and 62 deaths. Last week the Russian government suspended the IX International Cultural Forum, which was to be held in the city in November, “to avoid the risk of spreading the infection,” said Culture Minister Olga Liubímova.
Restrictions
“There is no other way to protect us. Please get vaccinated,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin has asked.
The main reasons why Russia is suffering its fourth wave of covid are the same as in the third: the resistance of a majority of the population to be vaccinated and a higher incidence of the delta variant. Russian citizens do not trust the four vaccines developed by local laboratories, nor their star, Spútnik V, the first anticovid injectable registered in the world, in August 2020. As of October 18, only 32% of Russians they were fully vaccinated, the pandemic control commission said Monday.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, acknowledged on Tuesday part of the responsibility of the State in the vaccination campaign. “Obviously, more should have been done to explain the lack of alternative to vaccination,” he observed. But he pointed out that the population also has to do its part. “A more responsible position is required of all the citizens of the country,” he said. “Each of us must show civic responsibility towards those around us, responsibility for their lives and get vaccinated,” he said.
To encourage vaccination, authorities have even opened vaccination centers in shopping malls and other facilities, in addition to health centers. They have also tried to encourage the prick by organizing lotteries and giving other incentives. But only the threats have yielded any results.
Record after record
In October, the number of cases, and also of deaths, increased day by day, exceeding a thousand daily
The subway guards are not policemen. When passengers who do not wear a mask are drawn to the attention this month, most pass by as if hearing rain. Although in theory they risk a fine (5,000 rubles, 60 euros), they trust the experience, which says that the authorities are not for the task of punishing the population and that they have only become serious when the situation has been unsustainable.
The Kremlin also rules out applying a lockdown like the one in spring 2020, which was a serious blow to the country’s economy.
The alternative has been to apply restrictions and brandish threats of sanctions. At the end of September, when the cases began to increase, the head of the Moscow Department of Commerce and Services, Alexei Nemeriuk, announced that controls on the use of a mask and safety distance in restaurants and shops, as well as to shopping centers.
Shopping centers whose customers go without masks can be fined one million rubles (12,100 euros) and closed for three months. To avoid millionaire losses, they have chosen to distribute free masks to all their customers, signal and separate the entrances and exits to avoid crowds and place cameras to dissuade the most reluctant.
No result so far. As in the previous wave, in June, only extreme measures and threats of sanctions will achieve a change in attitude. Muscovites began to get vaccinated like never before when authorities demanded that companies have 30% of their employees immunized, and companies threatened to fire those who did not. The covid pass was also introduced, without which it was impossible to access restaurants and gyms. By magic, the vaccination centers, empty as a rule, were filled with forced volunteers willing, now, to submit to the prick.
The highest figure in Europe
More than 226,000 people have died of covid in Russia, according to official data
Similar measures are now being applied again. Golikova proposed on Tuesday asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a one-week vacation for the entire country between October 30 and November 7. Taking advantage of the fact that there is a long bridge that week for the Day of Popular Unity, on November 4, this measure is in line with the Russian policy against the covid of damaging the economy as little as possible.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin has ordered companies to put 30% of their workforce to work from home for the next four months. Those over 60 years of age not vaccinated and chronically ill will be confined to their homes from October 25, and will only be able to go out to exercise. Service companies will have to compulsorily apply the first dose of the vaccine to 80% of their workforce before December 1.
“I am aware of how tedious and uncomfortable the current restrictions are, but there is simply no other way to protect them from serious illness,” the mayor explains on his website. And he asks: “Please get vaccinated. This is how you will protect your health and be able to maintain your usual lifestyle.”
The new anticovid measures in the capital are taken after most of the 85 Russian regions have applied in recent weeks the mandatory vaccination for those who work facing the public and a covid pass with QR code to access public events.
In addition to Moscow, where more than 20% of cases are concentrated, St. Petersburg is also suffering from the rebound of the pandemic. The northern capital will apply covid pass for cultural events of more than 40 people from November 1, and from November 15 this measure will also apply to swimming pools, gyms, theaters, cinemas, museums and circuses. Shops and restaurants will be added starting December 1.
The Russian authorities have also decided to apply the threat of fines for not complying with the prevention regulations. And they have promised to punish those who do not wear the mask on public transport.
“The mask protects when it is worn properly: completely covering the nose and mouth. Today in the subway almost all passengers wear a mask. But we can see that, after passing the turnstiles, in the wagon there are those who lower it to their chin or they take it away, “said Vladislav Sultanov, head of the organization and control of passenger traffic in Moscow.
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