Due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in this city, Moscow announced on Friday the closure of its fan-zone where Euro football matches were broadcast.

In the host city of St. Petersburg, which hosts seven matches of the competition, restrictions remain limited, however.

The city of Moscow announced Friday to close its Euro football fan-zone and to ban any entertainment event bringing together more than 1,000 people due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.

Russia, its capital in mind, is facing a new epidemic wave against the backdrop of a vaccination campaign that is slipping, the absence of restrictions for months, the emergence of one or more more virulent variants and non-compliance with rules for distancing and wearing a mask.

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Restrictive measures limited in the host city of St. Petersburg

"We are stopping mass entertainment events for a while, and we must also close the dance halls and the fan-zone for a while" at the Luzhniki Olympic complex, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his website.

Russia hosts a total of seven Euro football matches, all in Saint Petersburg, the country's second city, where the epidemic has also spread.

But in this city which therefore attracts tens of thousands of football fans, restrictive measures remain limited.

"It seems to me that the authorities are minimizing the danger in recent days. They do not give a lot of information on purpose so as not to spoil the Euro. I am afraid that the situation is worsening", confides a resident, Elena Iakovleva, 50 years old.

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The closure of sports facilities extended in Moscow

"I didn't want to do it, but I have to. From today, entertainment events are limited to a maximum of 1,000 people," Sergei Sobyanin said of Moscow. It also extended until June 29 the closure, decreed last weekend, of eating places in shopping centers, zoos as well as all public park facilities, such as playgrounds and sports equipment. sports. Restaurants and bars must also close from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., as was already the case for a week.