Moscow Announces 'non-working Week' As Virus Surges
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published June 12, 2021 | 09:27 PM
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Saturday announced a "non-working" week in the Russian capital, with non-essential workers told to stay home, as Covid-19 cases hit a six-month high
Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jun, 2021 ) :Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Saturday announced a "non-working" week in the Russian capital, with non-essential workers told to stay home, as Covid-19 cases hit a six-month high.
The decision marks a change of tone for Russian authorities, with President Vladimir Putin repeatedly insisting that Russia has handled the pandemic better than most countries.
"During the past week the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infections has sharply deteriorated," Sobyanin said on his website as the city registered 6,701 daily infections, the highest number since December last year.
Sobyanin added that "thousands" of hospital beds have been repurposed for coronavirus patients.
"We cannot not react to such a situation," he said. "To stop the growth of infections and to save people's lives, today I signed a decree providing for non-working days between June 15-19." The order affects all employees in the Russian capital, a city of 12 million, except for essential workers.
Non-essential workers are not required to work from home during the period, but will still retain their salaries.
Together with the weekends and a public holiday on June 14, it means most Moscow workers will not return to their offices until June 20.
The mayor also announced the closure of food courts and playgrounds while restaurants, bars and clubs will be baned from serving customers between 23:00 and 06:00.
Sobyanin also called on employers to transfer at least 30 percent of non-vaccinated employees to working from home after the week-long shutdown.
- Slow vaccination - Cases have been on the rise across the country in recent weeks as Russia struggles to innoculate its citizens despite domestic vaccines being widely available to the public.
A spike in cases has also been reported in Russia's second city Saint Petersburg, which is co-hosting the Euro 2020 football championship.
Earlier this week, Sobyanin said Moscow would be opening several field hospitals to accomodate the influx of patients.
Russia has been among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with the sixth-highest number of cases in the world, according to an AFP tally.
Kremlin critics have accused authorities of downplaying the severity of the pandemic by only counting fatalities where the coronavirus was found to be the Primary cause of death after autopsy.
On Saturday, Russia registered 13,510 new coronavirus cases and 399 deaths, according to a government tally.
Russia imposed a strict lockdown when the pandemic first swept across the country last spring.
But within months authorities had lifted most measures, opting to protect the struggling economy and pinning their hopes on curbing the outbreak with vaccines.
Officials have registered four homegrown vaccines -- Sputnik V, its single-dose version Sputnik Light, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac.
Russia's domestic vaccination campaign started in early December, ahead of most countries, but Russians have been hesitant to sign up.
Polls show that more than half of respondents do not intend to get vaccinated.
So far 18 million Russians - or 12 percent of the population -- have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Putin -- who the Kremlin said was vaccinated in private with one of Russia's jabs -- has repeatedly called on Russians to get immunised.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
Earthquake jolts Karachi
Sindh minister orders operation after attack on police in Ghotki
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
More Stories From World
-
Football: English Championship table
3 hours ago -
Time for 'democratic transition' in Venezuela: opposition candidate to AFP
3 hours ago -
Spain's Pedro Sanchez : a risk-taker with a flair for survival
3 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 table
3 hours ago -
Nadal will only play French Open if he can 'compete well'
4 hours ago -
Ukraine, Israel, TikTok: the massive aid package before US Congress
4 hours ago
-
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
4 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 results
4 hours ago -
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
5 hours ago -
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
5 hours ago -
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
5 hours ago -
Anger among Ukrainians in Poland as Kyiv halts passport renewals
5 hours ago