A record number of Covid-19 victims have been registered in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last 24 hours, with 124 and 110 deaths, respectively.
The quarter-finals of the European Football Championship are scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on Friday, and the organizers do not intend to cancel it due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In Russia, where the new coronavirus delta, or Indian strain, is spreading rapidly, 21,650 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported on Monday, and nearly 5.5 million people have been confirmed with the new coronavirus nationwide since the pandemic began.
Russia has the fifth highest number of infections in the world, according to AFP.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday that a record number of Covid-19 patients had been placed in hospitals and intensive care units in the capital over the past week.
“The situation with the coronavirus in Moscow is still extremely difficult,” Sobyanin said.
According to him, the Indian strain of coronavirus accounts for 90% of new cases of Covid-19.
To limit the spread of the virus, Sobyanin has ordered companies to organize work from home for 30% of unvaccinated workers, and restaurants will henceforth be allowed to serve only vaccinated people and people who have contracted Covid-19 indoors over the past six months.
Restrictions have also been tightened in St. Petersburg, including a ban on the sale of food in the fan areas of the European Football Championship.
But St. Petersburg authorities on Friday allowed high school graduations, including a concert in the city center with thousands of people.
Six European Championship games have taken place in St. Petersburg and a quarterfinals are scheduled for Friday, with the number of spectators expected to reach 26,000.
In Russia, meanwhile, only 21.2 million of the country’s approximately 146 million people have received their first dose of Covid-19, according to media estimates and data published on the Gogov website about the prevalence of Covid-19 in Russian regions.
A recent survey shows that 60% of Russians do not plan to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
In order to promote the vaccination campaign, the mayor of Moscow this month made it mandatory for everyone working in the service sector to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus. By Monday, at least 16 of Russia’s 85 regions had taken a similar step, and the Kremlin reported that demand for vaccines had increased.
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