Coronavirus Cases in Russia Growing Despite WHO Suggestion that It has Reached a Plateau

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 10 – The number of coronavirus infections in Russia increased to 210,000 today even though the WHO professed to see reasons to declare that the epidemic in that country had reached a peak or at least a plateau (versia.ru/za-sutki-v-rossii-vyyavleno-11-012-novyx-pacientov-s-koronavirusom-obshhee-chislo-zarazhenij-priblizilos-k-210-tysyacham and vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2020/05/10/829932-voz-dostignut-pika-epidemii).

            Not only did the overall number of cases go up by more than 10,000 for the sixth straight day, but ever more of them have appeared in key institutions and enterprises, forcing the authorities to adopt new measures to protect what it calls “system-forming” companies from collapsing under the pressure (severreal.org/a/30599866.html and sobkorr.org/news/5EB803922577B.html).

            Also on the upswing is criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis now that the country is coming out of the May holidays with Duma deputies adding their voices to the complaints of commentators that the central Russian government has not protected Russians against the virus or the economy against collapse (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/76157).

            And federal subject heads extended the isolation regime until the end of May, with most doing it for their entire territories but the head of Sakha doing it only for a portion of his enormous but underpopulated republic (vedomosti.ru/society/news/2020/05/10/829924-prodlevayut-rezhim).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in the Russian Federation today, the following five are particularly noteworthy:

·         Moscow officials announced that when they begin to allow stores to open up, they will allow clothes and shoe stores to be among the first because they are organized so as not to allow large amounts of contact among customers (sobkorr.org/news/5EB7D648E11BD.html).

·         A Russian gun enthusiast gave advice on which weapons are the most useful for those  who must remain self-isolated for long periods of time (profile.ru/military/kakoe-oruzhie-luchshe-podojdet-dlya-vyzhivaniya-v-dolgoj-samoizolyacii-305987/).

·         Doctors were relatively restrained in their criticism of health optimization earlier because some of them received significantly higher salaries, but now, seeing what that Putin policy means for their patients, they are becoming even more critical than regional officials (kavkazr.com/a/30602459.html).

·         The Russian interior ministry has rejected calls to toughen punishments for those identified as engaging in violence in the home during the self-isolation period as inappropriate. As a result, victims will not gain the additional protection administrative arrest might have brought them (znak.com/2020-05-10/mvd_otkazalos_uzhestochat_nakazanie_za_domashnee_nasilie).

·         And a new research project by the 7x7 news agency has underscored that regional differences in healthcare and treatment of those infected with the coronavirus are far greater than Moscow has admitted up to now (7x7-journal.ru/articles/2020/05/09/ot-deficita-vrachej-do-rosta-bezraboticy-kak-koronavirus-razedaet-regiony).