Moscow is canceling a number of restrictive measures previously introduced to combat the spread of coronavirus infection.

This was announced by the mayor of the capital Sergei Sobyanin.

According to him, the epidemiological situation in the city "continues to improve."

In particular, the mayor said that over the past week, the number of newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 did not exceed 2-3 thousand people a day, and the number of hospitalized people decreased by another thousand.

The mayor stressed that in the city's coronavirus hospitals for the first time since mid-June 2020, more than 50% of beds are free.

“In these conditions, it is our duty to create conditions for the fastest possible economic recovery, primarily for the most affected sectors of the consumer market,” Sobyanin wrote in his blog.

In this regard, from Wednesday, January 27, the requirement to transfer to a remote mode of work at least 30% of employees of capital companies ceases to be mandatory.

Now it is advisory in nature.

“Returning workers to offices or keeping them“ remote ”is left to the decision of the heads of specific enterprises and organizations," the mayor explained.

In addition, restrictions on night work (from 23:00 to 06:00) of catering establishments, nightclubs, bars, discos, karaoke, bowling alleys and other organizations of the recreation and entertainment industry are canceled.

Although establishments still have to comply with the requirements for the seating of visitors and compliance with the sanitary regime.

The mayor also said that the decision on the format of education in universities subordinated to the capital's government will be made by February 6 in agreement with the Russian Ministry of Education.

“The timing and stages of lifting the remaining restrictions will be announced later.

And please remember that the likelihood of contracting the coronavirus has decreased, but it still exists.

The fight is not over yet.

We still need to be careful.

Nevertheless, I sincerely congratulate you, friends, on our common victory and one more step towards the return of normal life in the beautiful city of Moscow, "Sobyanin concluded.

Recall that since January 22, colleges, institutions of additional education, sports schools have returned to their normal operating hours in Moscow.

The work of museums and libraries was resumed, and public events were also allowed (the occupancy of the premises should not exceed 50%).

Among the Russian regions, Moscow is the leader in the number of detected cases of coronavirus - 919 662 (1837 in the last day).

At the same time, 791 320 people (86.04%) recovered in the city, 13 175 patients (1.43%) died of complications.

In addition, the transport department of the Russian capital supported the proposal for free vaccination against coronavirus for taxi drivers and couriers, regardless of whether they have Russian citizenship and compulsory medical insurance policy.

“Taxi drivers are in contact with a large number of people, and the vaccine will protect not only themselves, but also those who use the services of all aggregators .... Currently, there are six mobile vaccination stations for our employees in transport depots.

We are ready to organize vaccinations for taxi drivers of all taxi companies, ”said Moscow Deputy Mayor for Transport Maxim Liksutov.

  • AGN "Moscow"

  • © Sophia Sandurskaya

Over the past day, 17,741 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Russia (this is at least since October 29, 2020, when 17,717 cases were registered).

In the two days preceding this, the figure was 18,241 and 19,290. The total number of registered cases of coronavirus infection in the country since the beginning of the epidemic reached 3,774,672.

For the entire time, 3,202,483 patients have recovered (27,922 - over the past day).

From complications that developed against the background of coronavirus infection and concomitant diseases, 71,076 people died (594 - per day).

The press service of Rospotrebnadzor reported that since the beginning of the pandemic in the Russian Federation, more than 100.3 million laboratory tests have been carried out for the presence of coronavirus.

Over 648 thousand people remain under medical supervision.

According to the American Johns Hopkins University, more than 100.3 million cases of coronavirus infection have been detected worldwide.

The largest numbers are in the United States (25.4 million), India (10.6 million) and Brazil (8.9 million).

Almost 2.16 million people worldwide have died from complications associated with COVID-19, including more than 425 thousand in the United States, about 219 thousand in Brazil, almost 154 thousand in India and 152 thousand in India. - in Mexico.

According to Alexander Gorelov, Deputy Director for Research of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia may return to the COVID-19 incidence rates that were in the summer of 2020 in the spring.

“Usually, the stabilization phase lasts a month and a half, that is, until the end of February, the trend we see today will probably continue.

And in March, a noticeable decrease in incidence rates may begin, "RIA Novosti quotes him.

  • © REUTERS / Evgenia Novozhenina

The deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor also said that the department monitors the circulation of strains of coronavirus infection in Russia.

“So far, the“ South African ”and“ Japanese ”strains of coronavirus have not been detected in Russia,” Gorelov stressed.

The South African mutation SARS-CoV-2 was identified in South Africa in December 2020.

According to local scientists, this strain can lead to COVID-19 recurrence and is more contagious.

In early January, another coronavirus mutation was detected in Japan, brought into the country by those who arrived from Brazil.

At the same time, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases indicated that it is difficult to assess the level of danger of the new strain.