More than 10,000 New Coronavirus Cases in Russia Diagnosed in Last 24 Hours

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 3 – Reflecting both the spread of the pandemic and increasing testing, the number of new cases in Russia rose by more than 10,000 over the last 24 hours and now stands at 134,000 officially, although the real number is likely far higher (rusmonitor.com/hudshij-den-v-rossii-bolee-10000-koronavirusnyh-infekczij-diagnostirovano-za-sutki.html and znak.com/2020-05-03/v_rossii_chislo_bolnyh_koronavirusom_vyroslo_do_134_tysyach_chelovek).

            Other coronavirus developments in Russia of note include:

1.      At the gas field in Sakha where workers protested the lack of protection, officials now say that at least 3500 men are infected (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/05/03/85204-otchayanda).

2.      Forty inmates of a Leningrad oblast psychiatric hospital have the coronavirus (novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/05/03/161206-v-leningradskoy-oblasti-bolee-40-chelovek-zarazilis-koronavirusom-v-psihiatricheskoy-bolnitse).

3.      In Moscow alone, more than 2,000 doctors and nurses are infected, many because they do not have sufficient protective gear. Three have committed suicide by jumping out of hospital windows, a trend Russian media are calling “the defenestrations of Moscow” (sovross.ru/news/48676 and kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5EAEDA698F548).

4.      Russian officials are using the restrictions imposed because of the pandemic that effectively block protests to push through land privatizations to preferred corporations (svpressa.ru/politic/article/264286/).

5.      Medical specialists say that Russians in self-isolation are drinking more, despite initial government reports that alcohol sales were down (rosbalt.ru/russia/2020/05/02/1841562.html).

6.      To allow businesses to profit, the Russian government is now allowing them to export masks and other medical equipment. Prices in Russia, however, are rising rapidly because of shortages officials still deny exist (vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2020/05/03/829546-pravitelstvo-snyalo-zapret-na-vivoz-iz-rossii-meditsinskih-masok).

7.      Russian health ministry officials say that the forced self-isolation rules may be extended until at least the middle of June (newsru.com/russia/03may2020/apopova.html).

8.      Russian commentator Yana Amelina, who often articulates official opinion, says that after the pandemic passes, “nothing will have changed” (kavkazgeoclub.ru/content/posle-koronavirusa-neuzheli-nichego-ne-izmenitsya).