Russia ends the blockade amid the Covid-19 wave

Much of Russia has ended its week-long workplace shutdown, although the country is still suffering a severe wave of Covid-19.

A week-long paid leave from work to curb the spread of nCoV in Russia ended today, as authorities recorded 39,400 new infections and 1,190 deaths in a day.

Only five regions decided to extend the blockade, including Bryansk province in the west and Novgorod in northwestern Russia. Some other localities still require people to present a certificate of Covid-19 vaccination when visiting restaurants, cafes and shopping centers.

Russians get vaccinated against Covid-19 in Moscow on October 21. Photo: AFP .

Many residents agreed with the decision to extend the blockade of Novgorod province. "It's the right thing. Maybe the number of new infections and hospitalizations will decrease next week," said Antonina Leontyeva, 75 years old resident in the capital Veliky Novgorod.

However, many people also expressed frustration with restrictive measures. "I don't like this, it drives me crazy. I can't go anywhere without a QR code," said Alexander Vorotilov, 19.

The capital, Moscow, the country's epidemic center, still applies the most stringent restrictive measures in more than a year, allowing only essential shops such as pharmacies and supermarkets to open. However, the capital city authorities do not require people to present vaccination certificates when participating in public activities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it is too early to conclude whether workplace closures will help reduce the number of new nCoV infections. "This will become clear in a week," he said.

With more than 8.8 million nCoV infections and more than 248,000 deaths, Russia is one of the countries hardest hit by Covid-19. The country continuously recorded a record of new infections and deaths from the pandemic, with a peak of 41,335 infections on 611 and 1,195 deaths on November 4.

Russia is the first country to license the use of the Covid-19 vaccine since August 2020 as well as possessing an abundant domestic vaccine source, but the vaccination campaign in this country faces many difficulties due to the skepticism of the vaccine of a part. population. As of the end of October, only 32% of the Russian population had received the full dose of the vaccine.

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