Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 7 – Russian officials
announced that 10,699 more people in the Russian Federation had tested positive
for the coronavirus, the fifth day in a row that more than 10,000 new cases
have been reported, bringing the cumulative total in that country to 187,859 (severreal.org/a/30600705.html).
But sociologists, demographers and
other experts say that they doubt these figures are complete, adding that much
of the data they and officials would need to design sensible policies is either
not being collected at all or not made available to the expert community (severreal.org/a/30597852.html).
Vladimir Putin has promised the
quarantine regime will be gradually relaxed; but in fact, in many places, it is
simply collapsing as people ignore the rules or challenge them in court. Only
in Moscow, where the self-isolation program has been extended to May 31, are
restrictions working largely as intended (region.expert/no_regime, severreal.org/a/30595907.html, rbc.ru/society/07/05/2020/5eb4091f9a7947140b6139 and asiarussia.ru/news/24166/).
But scholars say that with each
additional day of quarantine, the possibility that the Russian economy will
recover anytime soon recedes and a Great Depression-like period looms ahead (ura.news/articles/1036280180).
More than 40 percent of individual enterprises have closed or plan to in the
near future (ng.ru/economics/2020-05-07/100_econ07052020.html).
After the quarantine ends, “about
half” of all clothes, shoes and accessory stores are already projected not toreopen
(thinktanks.by/publication/2020/05/07/v-moskve-mogut-zakrytsya-do-50-magazinov-odezhdy-obuvi-i-axessuarov.html).
And while some crimes are down, others including family violence are way up. As
a result, the overall crime rate has risen four percent compared to a year ago
(profile.ru/society/chto-proisxodit-s-prestupnostyu-vo-vremya-karantina-303004/).
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