Paul Goble
Staunton, December 3 – The European Union has accused Russia and China of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic “in order to undermine democratic discussion” about how best to cope with the coronavirus. And it calls for the international community to come up with a suitable response (lenta.ru/news/2020/12/03/dea/).
Today, the Russian authorities registered a record high 28,145 new cases of infection, as well as 546 new deaths. The infection figure was 2800 more than the day before (t.me/COVID2019_official/2101 and regnum.ru/news/3131728.html). Officials blamed some of the sharp change on test processing problems (regnum.ru/news/3131778.html).
But these same officials called for cutting the reporting time after tests from 48 hoours to 24 hours, something that may overload the laboratories still further and lead to additional problems with the daily report (regnum.ru/news/3132419.html). Experts said Chechnya is the region that has manipulated the figures the most (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/ekspert-nazval-chechnyu-regionom-s-iskazhennoy-kovidnoy-statistikoy-/).
The pandemic continued to ebb and flow across Russia (regnum.ru/news/society/3128044.html). Moscow celebrated that 12 regions had ended distance learning even as other regions adopted that approach (https://regnum.ru/news/3131590.html). In some places, officials said restrictions would be lifted in six months (regnum.ru/news/3132120.html).
New and especially worrisome hotspots included oil and gas fields in Yamalo-Nenets and in military facilities near Murmansk (nakanune.ru/news/2020/12/3/22589801/ and covid.gov-murman.ru/news/384663/).
And polls showed that Russians were divided on whether they thought restrictions on New Year’s celebrations were a good thing or not, whether they believed they were about the coronavirus or not, and whether they would follow the recommendations or not (echo.msk.ru/news/2751898-echo.html and sovsekretno.ru/news/chetvert-zhiteley-rf-ne-veryat-v-svyaz-otmeny-novogodnikh-gulyaniy-i-borbu-s-covid-19/).
On the eve of the launch of mass vaccinations in Russia, officials said there were enough doses for all who want to take them but some observers suggested the regime had kept the process voluntary because there won’t be enough medication for months to come (svpressa.ru/society/article/283474/ and regnum.ru/news/3131496.html).
Moscow officials announced that Russian laboratories are now working on no fewer than ten vaccines in addition to the Sputnik-5 they are going to be using now (newsru.com/russia/03dec2020/popova2.html). They added that more than 50 countries want to purchase the Russian vaccine, but one country – Israel -- has demurred (regnum.ru/news/3132332.html and https://ehorussia.com/new/node/22269).
The vaccine is not the only medication in short supply in Russia; shortages of others, especially outside of Moscow, are limiting the ability of doctors to treat coronavirus victims as well as those suffering from other diseases (readovka.space/antibiotic).
On the economic front, the index of business activity rose slightly in November, and officials said Moscow firms were adapting well to the pandemic environment (regnum.ru/news/3131600.html and regnum.ru/news/3132084.html). Many business personnel said that the vaccine would boost the economy (regnum.ru/news/3132128.html).
But many economists said the economy was not set to recover and that pessimism about it is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, exacerbating an already difficult situation (rbc.ru/economics/03/12/2020/5fc775a39a794785e7e20584 and russian.eurasianet.org/россия-вторая-волна-пандемии-«дожимает»-еще-держащийся-на-плаву-бизнес).
Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia today,
· Officials announced that they were vaccinating part of the Russian cosmonaut corps (regnum.ru/news/3131357.html).
· Health experts warned that scarves are no substitute for masks and that those who think they are may be putting themselves at risk of infection and death (regnum.ru/news/3132106.html).
· And the ninth Russian died from drinking disinfectants since the pandemic began (siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/ninth-victim-of-covid-19-sanitiser-poisoning-as-mother-of-five-dies-in-yakutia/).
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