Record deaths in Moscow and St. Petersburg with a new epidemic wave in Russia
Record numbers of deaths from Covid-19 were recorded in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russian authorities announced today, while a new epidemic wave caused by the most contagious delta mutant is sweeping the country.
Saint Petersburg (northeast), the second city of the country, is under pressure as the host of matches in the European Cup 2020.
The organizers confirm that the quarter-final match, which will be held on Friday, is still going on, and the two winning teams from France, Switzerland, Croatia and Spain will meet.
Official figures show that Moscow recorded 124 deaths and St Petersburg 110 deaths during the past 24 hours, exceeding the records they recorded over the weekend.
The mutant has been hitting the delta of Russia, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, for weeks, and it is the most contagious and causes concern in the entire world.
Across the country, 21,650 new infections were recorded within 24 hours, according to the numbers published on Monday, out of a total of more than 5.4 million cases since the outbreak of the epidemic.
And 611 people died within 24 hours out of 133,893 deaths since the outbreak of the epidemic, according to the official toll.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said about 2,000 people are hospitalized daily due to Covid-19 in the capital, where nearly 75% of hospital beds are occupied.
"Last week, we recorded a record number of hospitalizations in the resuscitation departments and the number of deaths," he told RIA Novosti news agency.
In an attempt to contain the epidemic, Moscow re-imposed remote work for at least 30% of unvaccinated employees, imposed mandatory vaccination for service sector employees, and approved a health certificate to enter restaurants from today.
It is allowed to enter restaurants for vaccinated people or those who show a negative examination, the result of which is not more than 72 hours, or a certificate stating that they were infected with the virus less than six months ago.
So far, 2.5 million people out of 12 million residents of Moscow have obtained the health certificate, which reflects the slow pace of the vaccination campaign for seven months.
On Monday afternoon Olga Dombak was the only customer in the Italian restaurant downtown.
She received the vaccine a month ago and said getting the certificate "was very easy".
The engineer added, "Being alone in the restaurant hall is appropriate on the one hand, but it is sad on the other."
"People will not flock to restaurants with the adoption of this new system," said Vera Sadovnikova, owner of a Moscow restaurant, noting that this "will affect business revenues."
He rules out imposing a general closure, such as the one that happened in the spring of 2020, in the city in order to preserve the economy.
Despite the deteriorating health situation, "the quarter-final match will be held as scheduled," according to what the media apparatus of the organizing committee for the European Cup in the city told AFP.
A spokesman for the European Football Association (UEFA) Duqm said, "Nothing will change for the teams, and it is not scheduled to change the venue of the match."
The French national team intends to go to Saint Petersburg on Wednesday if it qualified this evening, according to the world football champions, with full vigilance regarding the disinfection of the places where the team members will be.
Since the beginning of the tournament, the Russian authorities confirm that they have taken all health measures.
However, the Finnish authorities expressed their concern Thursday, after it was confirmed that about a hundred injuries among fans returning from St. Petersburg.
In this context, scenes of thousands of people participating in the street in a traditional gathering to celebrate the end of the school year spread widely through social media.
With the spread of the delta mutant, more than ten Russian regions, such as Moscow, imposed mandatory vaccinations for certain groups of the population.
The vaccination campaign has been slow since December due to widespread skepticism among the population about Russian vaccines, despite repeated calls by President Vladimir Putin.
21.8 million people, out of the total population of 146 million, received at least one dose, according to the figures presented Monday on the "Goughof" website, which collects regional and media data in the absence of official national figures.
The government recorded the death of 133,893 people in Russia, which has become the European country that records the largest number in this regard.
As for the statistics agency "Rostat", which has a broader definition of deaths related to Covid, it counted 270,000 deaths as of the end of April 2021.
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