Increasing Deaths in Russia from Pandemic Sending Funeral Costs Skyrocketing

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 20 – In the latest example of the way in which supply and demand works, Russian funeral services have boosted their prices for graves and grave markers as deaths from the coronavirus have increased across the country (svoboda.org/a/v-rossii-rezko-podorozhali-groby-kresty-i-ogrady/31420049.html).

            And the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better as Russian epidemiologists are now predicting an upsurge in coronavirus infections and deaths in September after Russians return from their dachas and children go back to school face-to-face as Moscow ow plans (regnum.ru/news/society/3344522.html).

            Today, Russian officials reported registering   20,992 new cases of infection and 785 new deaths from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours and said that as of now, “more than 43 million” Russians have received the necessary vaccinations (t.me/COVID2019_official/3462 and regnum.ru/news/3349695.html).

            As the pandemic ebbs and flows across the country, Moscow has announced that regions will decide whether instructors at higher educational institutions will have to be vaccinated but a conflict has emerged as to whether students without vaccination can use dormitories, with some schools saying yes and others no  (regnum.ru/news/3349794.html  and nakanune.ru/news/2021/8/20/22616247/).

            On the vaccine front, Moscow says that all regions have enough vaccine, but more than half of medical workers say that they can’t fulfill government vaccination plans because they lack the personnel and other resources to do so (regnum.ru/news/3349714.html and rbc.ru/society/20/08/2021/611e3d9f9a794781dc54d1c1).

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

·         A new SuperJob survey finds that Russians who smoke or drink are less likely to be willing to be vaccinated than those who don’t (regnum.ru/news/3349299.html and regnum.ru/news/3349284.html).

·         The Gamaley Center says Russia may achieve collective immunity by the end of 2021 through a combination of those who have gotten their shots and those who have come down with the infection and recovered (regnum.ru/news/3349077.html).

·         And Moscow analysts are blaming the decline in Russian oil futures on the delta variant of the coronavirus (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/87259).