From Monday June 28, it will be necessary to present a health pass to go to a restaurant in the Russian capital. Moscow asks its residents to download from the city’s internet portal a QR Code confirming either their vaccination, or that they have been infected with the coronavirus in the last six months, or that they have a PCR test of less than three days, said Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on his website. Establishments – restaurants, bars – that do not have a control system in place will only be able to work for take-out or delivery.
The city is facing an outbreak of Covid-19, in particular because of the refusal of its citizens to be vaccinated. The mayor of Moscow has been stepping up restrictive measures since mid-June in the face of this surprise explosion of cases, carried by the Delta variant, which appeared in India and deemed to be more contagious and more virulent. It represents nearly 90% of contaminations in the Russian capital.
6,555 contaminations in 24 hours just in the capital
“The situation regarding Covid morbidity remains very difficult. In hospitals, there are currently 14,000 seriously ill people, ”Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog. On Tuesday, nearly 2,000 people had to be hospitalized in the Russian capital, 6,555 cases were detected and 86 deaths counted. The country as a whole has counted in the last 24 hours 16,715 contaminations and 546 deaths.
Russia is, with 130,347 deaths recorded by the government, the most bereaved European country. The statistics agency Rosstat, which has a broader definition of deaths linked to Covid, counts some 270,000 deaths between the start of the pandemic and the end of April 2021.
Russians’ mistrust of vaccines
Faced with the recent upsurge in cases, the mayor of Moscow has made vaccination compulsory in the service sector, while the immunization campaign has lagged behind since December amid Russians mistrust of available vaccines and despite repeated calls from President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian authorities have also allowed employers to suspend their employees who would not be vaccinated when they have to. About 13% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Gogov website, which aggregates data from regions and media due to lack of official national statistics. After confinement in spring 2020, the Russian authorities have no longer put in place such strict measures to preserve the economy.