Corona chaos in Russia: "Terrible numbers"! Putin reacts and "doesn't understand what's going on"

Pressure on the hospitals, record numbers of deaths: The corona virus is raging in Russia - and hits a largely unvaccinated population.

A politician warns the Kremlin about losing control.

Moscow - The students would have vacation anyway, now employees should also stay paid for a week at home: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared non-working days for the week from October 30th to November 7th due to rising corona numbers.

Russia's Vice Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said; “We have recently lost more than a thousand of our citizens a day. These are terrible numbers. ”She appealed to people not to“ make the situation worse ”by traveling domestically. Putin supported the proposal of a non-working week, he said on state television. Russian authorities had last reported 1,028 deaths within one day, which is a new high. A total of 226,353 people officially died in connection with the coronavirus in Russia - other figures with an expanded definition already speak of over 400,000 deaths. According to the JHU Corona overview, over 25,000 people died within the last four weeks alone, and over 728,000 were infected in the same period.

Corona in Russia: Vaccination quota is 35 percent - Sputnik available everywhere

In surveys, more than half of all Russians state that they do not want to be vaccinated.

The Russian vaccine Sputnik is available nationwide, other vaccines - such as Biontech - are not.

The official vaccination rate is 35 percent.

In personal words, Putin warned people on Russian state television to take responsibility and get vaccinated.

It amazes him how many Russians rejected the corona vaccination offer, Putin said.

There are even such cases among his “close friends”.

"It's strange.

People who have a good education and academic qualifications ... I don't understand what's going on. "

Corona in Russia: Kremlin fears loss of control over information campaign

On Tuesday, Moscow's mayor Sergej Sobyanin obliged unvaccinated people over the age of 60 to work from home.

In addition, the compulsory vaccination for officials in the capital will be expanded.

The regulations should come into force on Monday and apply until at least the end of February.

In the second largest city, Saint Petersburg, a health pass is to be introduced to regulate access to larger events.

The information campaign on the corona pandemic "completely slipped away" from the authorities, said the deputy chairman of the lower house, Pyotr Tolstoy, at the weekend.

People “don't have the confidence to go out and get vaccinated,” he stressed.

So far, Putin had always praised the exemplary nature of his government.

According to experts and officials, the worst could still be ahead of Russia.

Health Minister Michail Muraschko already referred to the growing pressure on hospitals in the country in front of journalists.

Russia's neighbor Latvia is entering the strictest lockdown since the pandemic began.

(afp / kat)