The Kremlin on Friday, July 2 ruled out the idea of containment to fight against the deadly new wave of the Covid-19 epidemic which is hitting Russia hard, carried by the Delta variant and leading to death records.
Read also: Contagiousness, immunity, dangerousness: should we be afraid of the Delta variant?
This refusal comes as measures are multiplying to encourage the suspicious population to be vaccinated. The country recorded a new record of daily coronavirus deaths on Friday, for the fourth day in a row, with 679 deaths. “
Nobody wants lockdowns and (the question of their introduction) is not raised. And for it not to be, we must all get vaccinated as soon as possible,
”Russian presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russia had implemented national containment in the spring of 2020, during the first wave. But the authorities have since refused to reintroduce this measure, in order to preserve a fragile economy. Across the country, the authorities identified 23,218 new infections on Friday, which corresponds to the highest figures since mid-January, when Russia was emerging from a second deadly wave. "
The situation is of course tense in several regions
", acknowledged Dmitry Peskov, while assuring that the authorities were working "
intensely
" to fight against "
a treacherous enemy, the coronavirus and its new variants
".
The capital, Moscow, the main focus of the epidemic, and the country's second city, Saint Petersburg (north-west), have for their part recorded 112 and 101 deaths respectively in the last 24 hours.
Levels still close to their own records set at the start of the week.
The authorities, however, maintained the holding in Saint Petersburg on Friday of the quarter-final of the Euro football between Spain and Switzerland, which is to bring together thousands of supporters including foreigners.
23 million Russians vaccinated
The coronavirus epidemic has resumed since mid-June in Russia while the vaccination campaign is sluggish. Launched in December, it has so far convinced only 23.6 of 146 million Russians, or 16% of the population, which remains suspicious of national vaccines. In several regions, the authorities have taken measures to encourage Russians to be vaccinated, for example with the introduction of a health pass to go to restaurants in the capital.
AFP saw long lines at a vaccination point in a Moscow shopping center on Friday morning, with more than 100 people waiting for the injection. "
I
've been in line
for two hours already,
" Svetlana Stepereva, a 21-year-old student, told AFP at a vaccination center in eastern Moscow. "
Considering that the restrictions will be even more severe, I want to have an injection and feel protected
." “
If there is the possibility of avoiding serious consequences of the disease, why not?
», Abounds Evguéni Koutcherik, engineer of 49 years. “
We can't do without it, we have to get vaccinated,
” says Raïssa Yermolaïeva, 62-year-old pensioner, in the queue.
Moscow also launched a revaccination campaign on Thursday for those who received their first two doses more than six months ago.
They are offered a third injection to further strengthen their defenses against the new variants.
Calling once again on his fellow citizens to be vaccinated, President Vladimir Putin urged Wednesday to "
listen to the experts
" and not to the rumors about the Covid-19, while opposing a national vaccination obligation.
To read also: Variant Delta: can vaccination be enough to avoid a new wave at the start of the school year?
Across the country, the pandemic has left more than 5.5 million infected and 136,565 dead, according to official figures. The statistics agency Rosstat, which has a broader definition of coronavirus-related deaths, for its part recorded 270,000 deaths at the end of April.