Most Russian Doctors Don’t Believe Official Statistics on Pandemic

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 6 – More than half of all Russia’s doctors do not believe the statistics on the coronavirus pandemic that the government has been putting out and just under half say that Moscow has understated the number of infections and deaths, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation and the Levada Center (vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2020/07/06/834080-rossiiskih-vrachei).

            Many analysts have suggested the same thing, but the doctors are on the front line of the struggle against the pandemic, and thus their voices are especially authoritative. Today, the government said there were 6611 new cases, bringing the cumulative total to 687,862 and 135 new deaths, boosting that total to 10,296 (t.me/COVID2019_official/971).

            Ever more regions weighed in today with reports that they are facing new or larger problems. A Daghestani observer of the health care system says that the situation thee is in crisis, a combination of inadequate training and cutbacks in facilities (caucasustimes.com/ru/uma-askerhanova-o-prichinah-vysokoj-smertnosti-i-sistemnom-krizise-v-dagestane/).

            In Novosibirsk, there are so now so many new cases that even ambulances have to line up at local hospitals before those who need treatment can get it (tayga.info/156822).  And in Khanty-Mansiisk, officials reclosed all kindergartens  because of a new surge in the number of coronavirus cases (admhmansy.ru/news/3668/152540/).

            The situation in Murmansk Oblast is also dire, but reports that the authorities plan to block anyone from entering have been denied (interfax.ru/russia/716028). St. Petersburg reopened museums, galleries, swimming pools and fitness centers but with significant restrictions in all cases (tass.ru/obschestvo/8890373).

            And Russia’s consumer protection service has banned all mass measures in schools, kindergartens, and camps until the end of the year. Even smaller gathering will be required to follow strict guidelines (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/russia-has-banned-mass-events-for-children-up-to-the-end-of-the-year/).

            Economists and business experts disagree on how long the economic crisis will last, but there appears to be a consensus emerging that the worst part of it will continue at least through this year and that recovery will take some time after that (ura.news/articles/1036280585).

            Moscow is trying to prevent the worst from happening by a massive aid program, although one small by international standards. According to deputy finance minister Vladimir Kolychev, Moscow will spend some four trillion rubles (66 billion US dollars) to fight the pandemic and its economic impact (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/how-much-it-cost-coronavirus-russia-/ and capost.media/news/ekonomika/to-the-victims-during-the-epidemic-the-business-sector-will-allocate-the-money/).

            The Russian banking system is increasingly facing bad loans and smaller reserves, including rapidly declining holding of hard currencies (finanz.ru/novosti/valyuty/rossiyskie-banki-poteryali-tret-zapasov-valyuty-1029363117). Individual Russians are taking on ever more debt as well, possibly beyond their means to repay (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/77901).

            Moscow officials say they have developed rules for using cellphones to track where victims of the coronavirus have been, a technique that some rights activists fear will be used for other purposes once the pandemic is over (regulation.gov.ru/projects#npa=105648).

            And Andrey Novikov, the head  of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center says that the pandemic has complicated the work of officials engaged in countering terrorism, an interesting position given that many believe that restrictions from the pandemic has made controlling the population easier (arms-expo.ru/news/protivodeystvie-terrorizmu/andrey-novikov-terroristy-ispolzuyut-ustalost-ot-pandemii/).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia,

·         The pandemic has “crippled” Russia’s domestic tourism industry and made it far more difficult for Russians to follow their government’s directions to travel within the country rather than go abroad (capost.media/news/ekonomika/kovid-the-crisis-has-crippled-tourism-in-russia/).

·         The sports ministry has developed a special program to provide 50,000 rubles (800 US dollars) a year to parents of children who show promise in athletic pursuits. This is in addition to subsidies already in place (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/families-with-children-can-receive-a-new-allowance-of-50-thousand-rubles/).

·         A survey of conditions in Russian penal institutions which hold some 500,000 people suggests that these are breeding grounds for the spread of the virus putting all inmates and detainees at risk and others when they are released (russian.eurasianet.org/россия-тюремная-система-перегружена-непрозрачна-и-уязвима-перед-коронавирусом).