Because the number of corona diseases in Russia has reached a peak and is still increasing, President Putin has ordered a week’s vacation for the country.
Moscow – From Saturday (October 30th, 2021) to November 7th, public life in Russia will largely come to a standstill – at least if it goes according to the plans of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president has ordered a week of compulsory leave due to rising rates of infection with the coronavirus, wages and salaries for this week will be paid by the government.
The reason for the measure is the drastic increase in the corona numbers in Russia, which have reached a new high since the beginning of the pandemic and are still rising. On Saturday, the authorities reported 40,251 new cases, in September alone, according to the statistics agency Rosstat, 44,265 people died in Russia as a result of infection with the virus.
State-ordered corona vacation in Russia: a third want to travel
Some experts loudly doubt whether the plan will work and the week will bring a decline in the numbers. Epidemologists have already warned of a further sharp rise in the numbers if numerous Russians should make their plans come true and use the vacation week for a trip. According to a survey, around a third planned to combine their vacation with a trip.
With the exception of a brief lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, Russia had largely dispensed with nationwide measures and instead relied on the development and use of its own vaccines, including Sputnik V. Vaccinations have been freely available for months and yet, according to government figures on Saturday, only 32.5 percent of the population are fully vaccinated.
Dealing with the corona pandemic in Russia: criticism of the Kremlin’s policies
The regional restrictions on public life to combat the pandemic vary widely. In the capital Moscow, the strictest regulations to date have been in effect since this week, including all non-essential shops had to close.
In the course of the pandemic, the Russian authorities were repeatedly accused of downplaying the pandemic and downplaying the number of sick and deceased people. According to reports from the news magazine Spiegel, excess mortality has been extremely high in Russia since the outbreak of the pandemic: Russian demographer Alexej Rakscha recently spoke of around 800,000 people. (ska / AFP)
