Tuesday, August 4, 2020

First Wave of Coronavirus Pandemic Only Now Hitting Russia’s Regions with Full Force, Altshteyn Says


Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 2 – Despite upbeat claims of stabilization or improvement in the epidemiological situation in Russia’s regions, virus specialist Anatoly Altshteyn says that the first wave of the pandemic is only now beginning to hit Russia’s regions and will grow in intensity in many for some time (ura.news/news/1052443329).

            His statement contradicts suggestions by Russian consumer affairs head Anna Popova that coronavirus infections are increasing in only five regions and stabilizing in all the rest (tass.ru/obschestvo/9104897) as well as claims by other Russian officials that the pandemic is ending in Russia and that there won’t be any additional “wave” (regnum.ru/news/3026253.html  and  regnum.ru/news/3026199.html).

            Altshteyn further warns that the increases in the regions which he expects will go even higher are going to play back into Moscow and other cities in the future and that whatever conditions are like now, the pandemic will get worse there in the near future if the situation in the regions is not addressed successfully.

            Russian officials reported that there were 5427 new cases of infection registered in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative total to 850,870, and 70 new deaths, bringing that toll to 14,128 (t.me/COVID2019_official/1186).  Pace Moscow, the ebb and flow of the virus and of openings and closings continue (regnum.ru/news/society/3021975.html).

            In Moscow itself, demand for masks is increasing (regnum.ru/news/3026249.html), although officials there and elsewhere are complaining that Russians are not wearing masks or practicing social distance as they should if the pandemic is to be brought under control (regnum.ru/news/3026227.html).

            And as in many countries, the debate in Russia is intensifying about how schools can open later this month or early in September in ways that will not lead to the further spread of the virus and to the illness or deaths of students and their families, teachers and other school employees (regnum.ru/news/3026339.html and  regnum.ru/news/3026179.html).

            More details surfaced about Moscow’s plans for mass inoculations. While some Russians may get shots later this year, most will not until early next year (regnum.ru/news/3026303.html,

            With regard to the economy, officials reported that direct foreign investment in Russia had fallen more than 95 percent since the beginning of the pandemic, prompting Vladimir Putin to sign into law new rules giving the government even greater control over where such funds go (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/78741).

                One observer argued that the population had forced the government to reopen the economy sooner than the government wanted (forbes.ru/finansy-i-investicii/405859-koronavirus-otkryl-yashchik-pandory-zakryt-ekonomiki-okazalos-vozmozhno),  and second said the pandemic had exacerbated poverty in Russia while government aid in the US had reduced it (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/08/02/86497-bednost-v-pandemiyu).

            And a new survey reported that both employers and employees are increasingly tired of work at home arrangements and want to return to normal operations (ng.ru/economics/2020-08-02/4_7925_distance.html).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia today,

·         Russia and Abkhazia reopened the border between them, 7500 Russians entered that breakaway republic in the first day, and the Abkhaz authorities warned of a possible outbreak of the coronavirus caused by their arrival (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5F26A534E9F85 and rbc.ru/society/02/08/2020/5f27103f9a7947564e9294a3?from=from_main_4).

·         The Russian Supreme Court refused to hear a class action suit by parents against Vladimir Putin for not providing subsidies to children at home over the age of 16 (vsrf.ru/lk/practice/cases/10737985).

And Moscow observers say that during the pandemic, Russians have engaged in significantly less sex and turned instead to sex toys and pornography (svpressa.ru/society/article/272409/

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