Russia has so far rejected a nationwide lockdown, citing economic concerns, and restaurants, bars and theatres in the capital remain open. The measures, labelled as a “short-term lockdown” in the document, would amount to Russia’s strictest coronavirus restrictions since spring 2020. The order said that the lockdown would come into effect if the total number of new coronavirus cases in the capital over the next seven days surpasses the number of infections recorded in the previous week. The order, seen by the Guardian, would close all non-essential businesses, including restaurants, shopping malls and museums as well as suspend planned medical procedures from 30 October to 7 November. Moscow will go into a full lockdown if coronavirus infections continue to increase in the capital, a government order that was sent to businesses in the Russian capital on Wednesday said. In Moscow, unvaccinated citizens aged over 60 were ordered to stay at home for four months and vaccine passports were introduced in several regions. In Russia, which has been reporting record daily deaths and has a vaccination rate dramatically below the EU’s, with only a third of its population vaccinated, a new set of restrictions was announced on Tuesday. In Romania and Ukraine local hospitals have found themselves under intense pressure, as the two countries have been posting record numbers of Covid deaths this month. Neighbouring Slovakia reported 3,480 new cases on Tuesday, its highest daily tally since the spring, according to health ministry data.īulgaria on Tuesday recorded its highest Covid death rate since late March, and the authorities made vaccine passports compulsory for visiting gyms, museums, cafes and other public places to stop the spread of the virus. Poland’s daily number of cases had exceeded 5,000 for the first time since May. Poland’s health minister, Adam Niedzielski, said on Wednesday the country had experienced an “explosion of the pandemic in the last two days” and warned the Covid situation was “becoming very serious”. The pandemic has especially hit lower-vaccinated countries in central and eastern Europe, where a large chunk of the population has still not had the jab and vaccine scepticism is widespread. The World Health Organization said there was a 7% rise in new coronavirus cases across Europe last week, the only region in the world where cases increased, according to the health body. Latvia is the first country in Europe to reimpose a strict lockdown as the fresh Covid wave gathers pace across the continent. Viņķele added that vaccination uptake in Latvia varied geographically, with some portions of the country recording a vaccination rate of less than 25%.ĭaniels Pavļuts, the country’s health minister, has previously blamed “disinformation” about vaccines in Russian-language media for vaccine scepticism among Latvia’s large Russian-speaking population. “Now we are forced to go into a lockdown, and those Latvians who actually got vaccinated will feel frustrated as they have been playing by the rules all along.” But unfortunately we have not been able to address this divide effectively. Ilze Viņķele, Latvia’s former health minister, who oversaw the country’s first two coronavirus waves, said: “We knew that certain groups, especially older citizens, as well as those from less affluent socioeconomic backgrounds, were sceptical to take the vaccine. Latvia was for a long time viewed as one of Europe’s few coronavirus success stories, recording fewer than 3,000 Covid deaths since the start of the pandemic.īut critics say a sluggish and uneven vaccination rate has led to the rise in infections. Last week, the Latvian president, Egils Levits, tested positive for coronavirus, forcing Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, who had met Levits a day earlier, to self-isolate.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |