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Thursday’s case count marked the first time Russia has officially reported more than 30,000 cases in a single day since the virulent wave of infections that swept through the country in late 2020.
Russia reported this Thursday, October 13, a new maximum of deaths and daily infections from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The official count of the Government added 31,299 new infections and 986 deaths, bringing to a total of 220,312 fatalities in the country from this disease, the highest figure in Europe. This does not include deaths in which the virus was not considered as the main cause, with which, according to the state statistical agency Rosstat, there is a total of 418,000 deaths.
In terms of infections, Russia has added 7,832,964 cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and is thus among the five countries with the most infections worldwide in absolute terms, behind the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Moscow, the capital, is the area that was most affected in the last day, with 6,712 new infections and 72 deaths. The increase in infections has been maintained since mid-September, growth that has intensified in October and to date it has already completed more than seven days with figures above 900 deaths.
The Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, pointed out that “the blame for this situation” rests on “the behavior of the population and vaccination.” Although the country has developed various vaccines against the disease, immunization is progressing slowly. “We have to stop this by making joint efforts,” added the minister.
A slow vaccination campaign full of skepticism
Acceptance of the vaccine by Russians has been slow. Many are excused in distrust towards the authorities and fear of the implementation of new medical products.
So far, only 31% of the population (45 million people) have been vaccinated with the full scheme, a figure below the international average, which is 36%. And only 34% have a dose, which is even lower than the world average of 48%.
And according to the predictions, the situation does not seem to improve anytime soon. According to a poll collected by the Russian newspaper ‘The Moscow Times’, more than 50% of Russians do not plan to get vaccinated.
At least 72 of the 85 regions have already considered introducing mandatory vaccines in certain sectors of the population, such as the hospitality industry, the textile industry and the public sector.
Regarding restrictions, there are very few regions that have limited attendance at events and access to restaurants and theaters, where they ask people to be fully vaccinated, recently recovered from Covid-19 or with a negative test with validity of 72 hours.
Despite the increase in infections, life in many Russian cities remains the same
In large cities such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Kazan and many others, the labor sector works normally where the rules of distancing, hand washing and the use of a mask are not strictly enforced.
The Kremlin ruled out resuming a national quarantine and delegated to regional authorities to take charge of the restrictions they consider necessary to contain the virus.
Moscow authorities expanded free coronavirus testing in shopping malls in hopes of helping stop the spread.
EFE and local media
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