Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 31 – Despite the
pandemic and quarantine, 70 percent of Russians say they continue to work in
the same way at the same place; only 30 percent indicate that they have had to
work at home or seek new positions because they have lost old ones, a Levada
Center survey reports (levada.ru/2020/07/31/koronavirus-strah-i-zanyatost/).
Thus, the dislocations and changes
many have talked about while large have hardly been as all-embracing as some
coverage has suggested. And that in turn
means that the impact of the coronavirus on patterns of employment and the underlying
structure of the economy is likely to be less than many have suggested.
The pandemic nonetheless continues.
Russian officials reported that they had registered 5482 new cases of infection
bringing that total to 839,981 and 161 new deaths, upping that total to 161 (t.me/COVID2019_official/1171).
In some places, where the numbers had been trending down, including Moscow,
they are now rising again (regnum.ru/news/3025346.html).
In others, such as Chechnya, the new
figures have jumped (regnum.ru/news/3025582.html),
while in a third group of regions, they have continued as much the same level
or declined. One more senior official, Yamal head Dmitry Artyulkhov reportedly
has fallen ill with the coronavirus (regnum.ru/news/3025250.html).
Openings and re-closings have followed
these trends. To give but one of dozens of examples, officials in Tyva,
officials said that the threat is so great that wearing masks and observing
social distance and sanitary rules “must become the new norm of life” (regnum.ru/news/3024890.html).
Russian Railways announced it was
restoring the operation of 180 runs that had been stopped earlier (regnum.ru/news/3025542.html), and airlines,
which have announced the restoration of international flights, are as yet
finding it difficult to meet the schedules they have announced (lenta.ru/news/2020/07/31/otmena/).
At the same time, Russian consumer
affairs officials are telling people to be careful in planning foreign trips
and to check schedules several days in advance of departure because unexpected changes
are still quite possible (regnum.ru/news/3025335.html).
Economic news remains dire. Economists
say the real decline in Russian incomes may be twice what the government is
saying (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/78687)
and add Moscow is trying to make the situation appear better than it is by citing
growth from the bottom of the decline rather than comparing figures now with
those before the pandemic (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/78692).
Experts are predicting a further
decline in ruble exchange rates (meduza.io/feature/2020/07/31/rubl-snova-padaet-za-poltora-mesyatsa-na-7-pridetsya-smiritsya-chto-dollar-budet-po-80-i-za-kakimi-novostyami-sledit-chtoby-ponimat-chto-proishodit-s-kursom).
And Russian consumers are falling ever further behind in repaying debts (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/prosrochka-rossiyan-po-kreditam-vzletela-na-120percent-1029450438).
And especially infuriating in this
regard is a report in Izvestiya that prices for domestically produced
medications have soared 23.8 percent since the pandemic began while imported
drugs have gone up only 7.5 percent (iz.ru/1042068/anna-ivushkina/tcennyi-sbor-vyruchka-aptek-v-pervom-polugodii-vyrosla-na-14).
Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related
developments in Russia today,
·
Since
the pandemic began, Russians have been buying more life insurance policies (regnum.ru/news/3025082.html).
·
Cancer
patients are finding it harder to get chemotherapy because hospitals have
refocused on treating those with coronavirus infections (idelreal.org/a/30756949.html).
·
Moscow
officials report that they have fined more than 6,000 firms a total or more
than 300 million rubles (4.8 million US dollars) for failing to require masks be
worn by sales personnel and customers (https://tass.ru/moskva/9091935).
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