Moscow on Friday and Saturday reported 9,056 and 9,120 new cases respectively. Saint Petersburg, where Euro 2020 matches will be held, introduced new COVID-19-related restrictions. The event is expected to draw thousands of European football fans.
Owing to the new cases reported due to the Delta variant, Moscow’s hospitals were flooded with patients. About two weeks ago, Moscow’s daily numbers were at 3,000. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the highly infectious Delta variant constituted nearly 90 per cent of new cases.
Russia, on the whole, saw 17,262 new cases of the virus on Friday and 17,906 on Saturday, the highest daily numbers since February 2021. Russia also recorded 466 deaths due to the virus in 24 hours.
Russian deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova told AFP that the Moscow region was seeing a "serious spike of infections". Authorities are now scrambling to roll out new beds for coronavirus patients.
Authorities have imposed an 11 pm curfew on bars and restaurants. And have temporarily banned entertainment events with more than 1,000 spectators.
Russia so far has lost 129,000 lives to the pandemic. So far, 13 per cent of Russia’s population has received the first dose of the vaccine.
Moscow authorities have ordered mandatory vaccination for those working in the service industry and insisted that 60 per cent of personnel in the service industry will need to be vaccinated by August 15. Saint Petersburg has announced it hopes to vaccinate 65 per cent of its civil servants by August 15.
