To fight the coronavirus pandemic, which is receding very slowly in Russia, President Vladimir Putin announced ten public holidays in May on Friday.

"If you think it is necessary, I will sign the decree today" on these holidays, he said during a televised meeting, in response to a request from the head of the Russian health agency who has believed that this would stabilize the pandemic.

Collective immunity in the fall

This is to make the days worked between the two May bridges (from 1 to 3 and from 8 to 10) in Russia as public holidays, which gives a non-worked period from May 1 to 10. According to the director of the Russian health agency Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, while the pandemic is on the decline in Russia, this decline has slowed in recent weeks. “We are practically stagnant and in a number of regions (…) there is a tendency which says that the situation could become more complicated,” she added.

According to her, making the 10 holidays would limit travel on public transport and to go to dachas, reducing the circulation of the virus accordingly.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin said he was aiming for collective immunity against Covid-19 in Russia in the fall, welcoming during his major annual speech the scientific "breakthrough" of his country with the development of three vaccines, including the flagship injection of Moscow, Sputnik V. Vaccination of the Russian population is however lagging behind against a background of mistrust.

Avoid hard confinement

Earlier this week, the mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin worried about a deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the Russian capital, saying he wanted to stimulate the vaccination of the elderly to avoid harsh containment measures as in Europe.

Moscow has recorded some 2,000 new cases daily in recent days and Russia between 8,000 and 9,000 cases every day in April, for a total of more than 4.7 million sick since the start of the pandemic.

The mortality figures diverge sharply depending on the sources: the government recognized 107,501 deaths on Friday, when the statistics agency Rosstat had identified at least 224,000 at the end of February, which places Russia among the most wounded countries in the world.

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  • Russia

  • epidemic

  • Vladimir Poutine

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • World