Moscow imposes new Covid curbs as daily deaths break record

Moscow's mayor announced four months of stay-home restrictions for unvaccinated over-60s on Tuesday and the Russian government proposed a week-long workplace shutdown as the national death toll from Covid-19 hit yet another daily high.

The moves reflected a growing sense of urgency from the authorities as they confront fast-rising cases and widespread public reluctance to get injected with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

Moscow, a city of 12.7 million, ordered people over the age of 60 to stay home for four months starting on Oct. 25 unless they are vaccinated or have recovered from Covid, and for businesses to move at least 30% of their staff to remote work.

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"The number of people hospitalised with a severe form of the disease is increasing every day," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his website.

"The most alarming thing is the situation with Covid infection among the older generation," he added, saying over-60s accounted for 60% of patients, nearly 80% of people on ventilators, and 86% of deaths.

The new measures were announced hours after Russia reported 1,015 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest single-day toll since the start of the pandemic, as well as 33,740 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.

Speaking at a government meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova proposed that Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 be deemed non-working days to combat rising infections. Russia introduced similar measures earlier in the pandemic.

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Golikova said people should have to present QR codes on their mobile phones to prove they had been vaccinated or had recovered from Covid in order to attend some public events or visit certain facilities.

Russia's regions should decide for themselves whether unvaccinated pensioners should be ordered to self-isolate or whether extra vacation should be offered to workers as an incentive for getting vaccinated, she said.

'Blaming the state'

The Kremlin, too, repeated the call for Russian to get inoculated.

"There is a tradition of blaming the state for everything. Of course, the state feels and knows its share of responsibility," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, acknowledging more could have been done to explain the importance of vaccination to the public.

"But a more responsible position is needed from all citizens of our country. Now each of us must show responsibility...and get vaccinated."

Many Russian regions plan to keep cafes, museums and other public venues open only to those who have recently recovered from Covid-19 or have proof of inoculation with a Russian vaccine or a negative coronavirus test. read more

The Oryol region around 325 km (200 miles) south of Moscow, had run out of hospital beds, the RIA news agency quoted Governor Andrei Klychkov as saying.

In Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, health officials said people working in sectors such as tourism, hospitality, education and healthcare would have to get vaccinated.