Russia at worst of pandemic despite Sputnik V 0:57
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -
Moscow will impose a 10-day lockdown starting next week in an effort to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases, the city's mayor said, at a time when Russia faces the worst phase of the pandemic.
"In the coming days, we will reach historic peaks in covid cases," Sergey Sobyanin wrote on his blog, before announcing the strict restrictions from October 28 to November 7.
"During this period, the work of all companies and organizations on the territory of the city of Moscow should be suspended," he said, before outlining some limited exceptions.
More people are receiving booster doses than first doses of the covid-19 vaccine.
And others may soon be eligible for an additional dose.
Earlier this week, the city ordered all unvaccinated residents over the age of 60, as well as unvaccinated people "suffering from chronic diseases," to stay home for four months, until the end of February.
Russia's covid-19 crisis is worsening and its officials have begun to openly admit that the country is facing a terrible winter.
Meanwhile, a transport official imposes a fine while checking compliance with the rules on the pandemic, at the Pushkinskaya station in the Russian capital.
In recent days, the country has reported its highest number of daily cases and deaths on multiple occasions, and this Wednesday it registered a record of 1,028 officially reported deaths.
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Vladimir Putin, in isolation after several people in his inner circle tested positive for covid-19
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Tuesday - at a meeting of the COVID-19 task force - that pressure on health services is seriously increasing, while Oriol region governor Andrey Klychkov recently revealed that the region does not have the capacity to hospitalize more coronavirus patients.
"The most terrible figure is that we had 1,854 beds ready, today there are no more free beds available. Of course, we will free up all the beds we can, we will look for options. But at the moment there are no beds available, and this raises great concern", Klychkov said during a live broadcast on Instagram.
Experts blame the situation on the slowness of the vaccination campaign, an overwhelmed health system and general distrust in the government.
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Russia's efforts to reduce transmission of the virus have been severely hampered by an ineffective vaccination program.
Only 30% of the population is fully vaccinated, in a country where there are four nationally produced vaccines.
Russia at worst of pandemic despite Sputnik V 0:57
On Tuesday, when the country hit another record for COVID deaths, the Kremlin admitted partial responsibility for low vaccination rates.
"Of course, not all that had to be done was done to inform and explain the inevitability and importance of vaccination," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"But at the same time, the citizens of our country must adopt a more responsible position and get vaccinated," he added.
Covid-19
