President Putin Agrees Workplace Closures, Moscow Will Have Tightest COVID-19 Lockdown From Next Week

JAKARTA - The Russian capital Moscow will reimpose strict COVID-19 lockdown measures from October 28, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday, with supermarkets and pharmacies the only shops allowed to remain open in a bid to reduce surging infections and deaths.

The decision came a day after President Vladimir Putin approved nationwide week-long workplace closures, from October 30 to November 7, saying regional leaders could impose stricter measures at their discretion.

The capital's partial lockdown, the first since June last year, will also last until November 7.

Sobyanin said all shops would be closed except those selling essential goods, such as supermarkets and pharmacies. Schools and kindergartens will also be closed, while bars and restaurants can only operate take-out and delivery services.

The measures reflect a growing sense of urgency over the unrelenting increase in cases of COVID-19 infection, which the Kremlin blames on low vaccination rates.

Similar restrictions would apply in the wider Moscow area, but Valentina Matvienko, head of the upper house of parliament and a close ally of President Putin, said another nationwide lockdown was not recommended.

"It's going to be a big blow to the economy, a psychological blow to the people. It's not necessary," he said as quoted by Reuters from TASS Oct. 21.

Authorities say they are monitoring a new strain of the Delta variant virus that is also spreading in the UK, but believe existing vaccines can contain it.

Russia quickly developed and launched a Sputnik V vaccine when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, but acceptance has been slow, with many Russians citing distrust of authorities and fear of new medical products.

President Putin himself has received the vaccine and has repeatedly urged people to do the same, but to little avail.

Despite being used in more than 70 countries around the world, Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is not expected to get approval from the European Union drug regulator (EMA), until at least the first quarter of 2022 as some of the data needed for review is still missing, a source familiar with the matter said. it told Reuters.

But boosting domestic acceptance is the most pressing challenge now, with only about 48 million of Russia's 144 million people fully vaccinated as of October 15, according to data from the coronavirus task force.

In Moscow, Mayor Sobyanin has announced four months of stay-at-home restrictions for people over 60 who are not vaccinated.

Cinemas and museums are exempt from the new lockdown and will be allowed to remain open provided they limit the number of visitors, who will be asked to wear masks and show QR codes on their phones to prove they have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID.

For your information, Russia on Thursday reported 1,036 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours as well as 36,339 new infections, both record daily highs.