Pandemic Restrictions Restored in Parts of Russia After Infections Spike Following Their Lifting

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 7 – Confronted with pressure from above – the Kremlin – and from below – the population – Russian officials have been lifting many of the restrictions that were put in place to slow the spread of the pandemic; but now, confronted with spikes of new cases, some of them are having to put the restrictions back in place.

            Virologists have long warned that re-opening too soon “will lead to an enormous number of deaths;” and in places that is proving to be true (ura.news/news/1052435393). Moscow has re-imposed restrictions on park visitors (kp.ru/daily/27139.5/4231865/); and Tyva has put them back in parts of that republic (mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/koronavirus-v-rossii-xronika/).

            But because reported deaths fell below 200 a day in Russia for only the second time since the pandemic began (rbc.ru/society/07/06/2020/5e2fe9459a79479d102bada6), pressure to reopen remains strong, with Russians apparently prepared to accept more infections and deaths in order to restore pre-pandemic conditions (rbc.ru/politics/07/06/2020/5edb649b9a79471c906c50a8).

            The overall reported figures for the last 24 hours are the following: 8855 new infections bringing the total to 467,673; the number of new deaths, 134, bringing that total to  5859; and the total number of coronavirus tests in Russia reported to have been conducted since the pandemic began (meduza.io/news/2020/06/07/v-rossii-za-sutki-vyyavleno-8984-novyh-sluchaev-covid-19-vsego-zaboleli-bolee-460-tysyach-chelovek).

            Russians are devoting ever more attention to economic recovery. Economists are arguing that unless the central bank lowers rates, promoting growth in the Russian GDP will be extremely difficult (ng.ru/economics/2020-06-07/1_7880_credits.html); but others say that the government must take measures to boost consumer demand (ng.ru/economics/2020-06-07/1_7880_consumers.html).

            Intriguingly, some Moscow officials are now telling Russians that they should be looking for work in some of the hardest hit sectors because those will be among the first to resume hiring in order to try to recover their positions and grow (ng.ru/economics/2020-06-07/1_7880_consumers.html).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia,

·         Russian teachers are being told not to give students low grades because of the unsettled situation; but educators say that they will have to cover much of the content the students didn’t get, thus slowing the recovery in that sector as well (ura.news/news/1052435407).

·         Some economic analysts say that Russians need not fear a spark of inflation after restrictions are lifted because better deliveries of goods will compensate for the unleashing of pent-up demand (ura.news/news/1052435372).

·         Berl  Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia, has been infected with the coronavirus; but he says he has only a slight case and is almost ready to resume his normal activities (mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/koronavirus-v-rossii-xronika/).

·         Russian airlines want to reopen international flights to 15 countries as of July 15 (mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/koronavirus-v-rossii-xronika/).

·         Russia’s psychologists have set up webinars to help those still confined in the homes avoid falling into serious depression and coming into conflict with family members (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/06/07/85732-uspokoytes-u-vas-renessans).