New Coronavirus News from 25 Oct 2021b

With COVID-19 deaths climbing and hospitals strained, Russia rolls out restrictions [CBC.ca, 25 Oct 2021]

By Briar Stewart

Nearly 38,000 new COVID-19 cases and 1,069 deaths recorded Monday in Russia

As an increasingly deadly fourth wave of COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm Russia's hospitals, officials who had been hesitant to implement restrictions in recent months are doing so now in a desperate attempt to try to reduce the record number of people dying every day.

On Monday, there was an all-time high of 37,930 new cases, along with 1,069 additional deaths, according to the country's coronavirus task force.

"There is a real war in the red zone in hospitals throughout the country," Dr. Denis Protsenko, the country's chief coronavirus doctor, wrote on his Telegram social media account
"Look at the number of free beds and a lot will fall into place."

Protsenko is the head doctor at the Kommunarka infection disease hospital in Moscow,
Municipal officials say since September, cases in Russia's capital have risen by 30 per cent each week and are hovering around 8,000 a day — a trajectory that Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has acknowledged is a "worst-case scenario."

To try to curb the spread, the city is bringing in a partial lockdown that will begin Thursday.
As of Monday, it is ordering anyone over the age of 60 to stay home until Feb. 25 if they haven't been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19 during the past six months.

On his website, Sobyanin made a plea to grandparents to get vaccinated, pointing out that the vaccination rate for those older than 60 is slightly more than 30 per cent in Moscow, while that demographic makes up 86 per cent of those dying in the city's hospitals.

In an effort to increase vaccinations among that age group and those with chronic illnesses, the city of 12 million is imposing tough restrictions that kick in on Oct. 25 for those who haven't been vaccinated or previously infected.

They are supposed to stay at home for four months, but are allowed out for walks and exercise.

It's not clear how the order will be enforced, but during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, Maria Markova said public health officials called to check up on her to make sure she was at home.

The 73-year-old, who had COVID-19 in 2020, isn't vaccinated and said it's because of underlying health conditions.

"I don't think it is right that they force people," Markova told CBC as she was out for a walk near the Moscow river on Friday.

"The pensioners and the older people are the target again? This is totally unacceptable."

Alexander Lobanov, who is turning 60 on Nov. 1, spoke to CBC as he was riding his bike nearby. He is also unvaccinated, but is resigned to the fact that he may have to get it.
"I feel like I have no choice now," he said.

With more than 1,000 people dying of COVID-19 every day for the past 10 days and with vaccination rates lagging, Russia has declared a non-working week from Nov. 1 to Nov. 7.

It coincides with statutory holidays on Nov. 4 and 5 for Unity Day, which commemorates a 1612 uprising against Polish and Lithuanian forces.

In addition to the non-working week, Moscow is imposing a partial lockdown between Oct. 28 and Nov. 7. During this period, all non-essential stores will be closed and dining in at restaurants will be banned, but public transport will continue to run.

11 days of restrictions
Theatres and museums will also keep operating but at 50 per cent capacity and all visitors will be required to show a vaccination QR code or proof they have had a recent COVID-19 infection.

The measures are slated to only last for 11 days and the mayor said the restrictions are akin to taking an aspirin for a fever.

The pill won't cure the illness, he wrote, but it gives the body a break.

"Let's take a little rest and help preserve the lives and health of many people," he wrote.
Some other cities, including St. Petersburg, which is also going into a partial lockdown on Oct. 30, are making it mandatory for all public places like restaurants and gyms to require guests to have a QR code.

However, Moscow isn't requiring that.

Officials enacted that measure in June, but cancelled it after three weeks because of pressure from the hospitality industry.
In the wealthy Moscow neighbourhood of Patriarch Ponds, streets are lined with upscale restaurants, including Uilliams, which was one of nearly 70 eateries in the city recognized by the French Michelin guide last week.

The recommendation would normally be a boon for reservations, but Uilliam's, an Italian restaurant, is getting ready to shut its doors to customers.

"I guess it's necessary and maybe it will even help," said 28-year-old Artyom Sabirov, the manager at Uilliams.

"The main thing is it doesn't drag on for too long like it did two years ago."

Hesitation over restrictions
While officials in Russia have been hesitant to institute restrictions, the climbing cases and deaths are taking a toll on hospitals and medical staff.

In the Siberian town of Biysk, 3,000 kilometres southeast of Moscow, there are reports that some hospital staff are having to work 72 hours straight in order to keep up with the number of COVID-19 patients being admitted. The town also had to build an additional morgue.

In Biysk, like elsewhere in Russia, vaccination rates are low.

Across the country, slightly more than 40 per cent of adults have had two doses of a vaccine, according to Gogov, which tallies statistics from across Russia.

The Sputnik V shot, which Russia unveiled in August 2020, hasn't been cleared for use in anyone under the age of 18, so the country's approximately 30 million children remain unvaccinated.

Despite pleas from government officials, including President Vladimir Putin who got the Sputnik jab, the vaccination rate has stalled.

On Oct. 21, Putin reiterated that he doesn't support mandatory vaccinations, but stressed that people only have two options, "get sick or get vaccinated."

Much stronger words are being used by the pro-Kremlin broadcaster, Dmitry Kiselyov, 67, who hosts a weekly news program, Vesti Nedeli.

Normally, he uses the airtime to criticize Western governments and culture, but recently he has been railing against Russia's unvaccinated Kiselyov, who said he was vaccinated in January, was hospitalized with coronavirus last month.

Sputnik vaccine not approved yet by WHO
"To refuse getting the vaccine can't be called anything but sociopathic behaviour," he said on his Sunday news program.

"The lion's share of state funds are going to treat the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated don't want to take any responsibility."

While multiple research studies, including one published in the medical journal The Lancet, have pointed to the effectiveness of the Sputnik vaccine, it hasn't yet been approved by the World Health Organization.

In Russia, those refusing to get the jab include those who don't trust the government shot and those who don't support vaccination in general.

Elena Romachenko, 34, told CBC that a person can control their own health.

"Eat well, do sports, " she said. "Go to the resort, the sea, the mountains, then you will be healthy."

Pavel Volchkov, head of a genomic engineering laboratory at Moscow's Institute of Physics and Technology, believes most vaccine holdouts aren't against vaccines, but think they don't need them.

"I call it the superhero syndrome," Volchkov told CBC.

"They believe if they were able to resist COVID-19 during the past year and a half, that SARS-CoV-2 won't be able to infect them."

Volchkov, who helped develop COVID-19 tests during the early days of the pandemic, believes countries need to take a stricter approach such as occurred in China and Australia, which locked down entire regions after the detection of a small number of cases.

He thinks obligatory vaccination is part of the answer but believes it would be unpopular and untenable in most countries.

As for Russia, he said in order to have "good population immunity," 70 per cent or more would have to be vaccinated.

As children can't currently be immunized in the country, that means all adults would have to be.
And with more than half of them unwilling to get a shot, he said the government has no choice but to institute restrictions every time the hospitals get close to being overwhelmed.

Russia Experiencing COVID-19 Outbreak Despite Sputnik Vaccine - 9 & 10 News [9&10 News, 25 Oct 2021]

The spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant is on its way down in the U.S., but Russia is seeing a renewed surge.

They’re experiencing their worst outbreak of the pandemic.

Russia continues to bury a record number of COVID-19 victims, more than one thousand people per day.

President Vladimir Putin has urged Russians to get vaccinated, but there remains a deep-rooted distrust of authority in Russia.

The legacy of the Soviet Union and years of poor government have left many wary of the vaccines being made available.

Less than one third of Russia’s 146 million people have been vaccinated, even though there is plenty of the Russian-developed Sputnik vaccine available.

Russian COVID Cases Hit Record High as Eastern Europe Imposes New Curbs | World News [U.S. News & World Report, 25 Oct 2021]

By Luiza Ilie and Gleb Stolyarov

BUCHAREST/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia reported a record high number of daily COVID-19 cases and some central European countries imposed fresh restrictions on Monday, as a new wave of the pandemic gathered pace.

In Asia, the Red Cross called for urgent help for Papua New Guinea and China's latest outbreak forced the capital Beijing to delay its annual marathon and step up other curbs, less than four months before it hosts the Winter Olympics.

Authorities around the world have been sounding the alarm as infections surge, with governments in regions where vaccine uptake has been low forced to toughen up restrictions in a bid to stop the virus raging out of control.

"The pandemic is far from over. Complacency is now as dangerous as the virus. Now is the time to be on heightened alert, not to let down your guard," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

Russia on Monday reported 37,930 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest in a single day since the start of the pandemic, as well as 1,069 deaths related to the virus.

Frustrated by the slow take-up of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine by its own population, authorities are introducing stricter measures this week to try to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Some regions imposed a workplace shutdown and from Thursday, Moscow will introduce its tightest lockdown measures since June 2020, with only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies open. Moscow schools are also closed, and unvaccinated over-60s in the capital have been ordered to lock down for four months.

Vaccine scepticism is high across central and eastern Europe, and as a result the region has become a hotspot.

Tougher restrictions came into force in Romania and the Czech Republic on Monday, while in Slovakia stricter rules were expanded to more regions. In Bulgaria, police will start imposing fines on people who break restrictions from Monday.

Poland also warned it would consider tighter restrictions.

In Romania, where a deputy minister on Saturday lamented a "disaster situation", the government reintroduced a curfew and made health passes mandatory for entry to most public venues.

While experts have said that a lack of confidence in public institutions caused by decades of Communist rule has fuelled vaccine scepticism in the region, there were signs that more people were now getting a jab.

In Romania authorities said inoculations were on the rise last week, while in the Czech Republic the daily number of doses administered was the highest since late-August.

The Dutch government also said it may impose new coronavirus restrictions to reduce pressure on hospitals struggling to deal with a swelling number of COVID-19 patients.

'LOSS OF LIFE'
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned of the potential for huge numbers of deaths in Papua New Guinea unless international action was taken to help the island nation's struggling health service.

Less than 1% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data figures, with the Red Cross blaming misinformation, public apprehension, and logistical challenges.

"Urgent efforts and further support are needed in healthcare to prevent a massive loss of life in the coming days and weeks," Uvenama Rova, PNG Red Cross secretary general, said.

Chinese health officials warned on Sunday that its latest cluster, caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, was increasingly likely to expand further.

Beijing has banned entry of people from other cities with cases, and closed indoor venues such as some chess and card parlours, even in districts without infections. Although the infection numbers are far smaller than many places outside China, authorities have adopted a zero tolerance strategy.

New Zealand saw its second-highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with 109 new locally acquired coronavirus cases reported on Monday, the bulk of them in its largest city, Auckland.

Once lauded for its success in stamping out the virus, New Zealand has been struggling with an outbreak of the Delta variant centred in Auckland, despite the city remaining under a strict lockdown for more than two months.

Russia marks another record number of everyday COVID-19 cases [The Hindu, 25 Oct 2021]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russians not to go to work between October 30 and November 7, when the country will observe an extended holiday.

Russia reported another daily record of confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday as a surge in infections has prompted the Kremlin to tell most people to stay away from work starting later this week.

The Russian government’s coronavirus task force tallied 37,930 new confirmed cases in 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. The task force also reported 1,069 more COVID-19 deaths in the same period, slightly fewer than a record of 1,075 reached over the weekend.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russians not to go to work between October 30 and November 7, when the country will observe an extended holiday. In some of Russia’s 85 regions where the situation is particularly grave, Mr. Putin said the nonworking period could begin earlier and be extended beyond November 7.

During that time, most state organisations and private businesses, except for those operating key infrastructure and a few others, are to halt work.

Officials in Moscow plan to order the off-work period to start from Thursday. Gyms, most entertainment venues and most stores are to be closed for 11 days along with kindergartens and schools. Restaurants and cafes will only be open for takeout or delivery orders during that period. Food stores and pharmacies can stay open.

Access to museums, theatres, concert halls and other venues will be limited to those holding digital codes on their smartphones to prove vaccination or past illness, a practice that will remain in place after November 7.

Russian authorities hope the idle time will help limit the spread of the virus by keeping people out of offices and off public transportation, where mask mandates have been loosely enforced.
Overall, Russia has registered over 8.2 million confirmed virus cases and 2,31,669 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

The government has blamed the latest spike in infections and deaths on low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes toward taking precautions. Only about 45 million Russians – roughly a third of the country’s nearly 146 million people – are fully vaccinated.

Russia was the first country in the world to authorise a coronavirus vaccine, launching Sputnik V in August 2020, and has plentiful supplies. But uptake has been slow, blamed in part on conflicting signals from authorities.

Some Russian regions shut workplaces as daily COVID-19 cases hit new peak [Reuters, 25 Oct 2021]

By Gleb Stolyarov and Alexandr Reshetnikov

MOSCOW, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Russia reported its highest single-day COVID-19 case tally since the start of the pandemic on Monday as some regions imposed a workplace shutdown to combat a surge in infections and deaths.

Faced with worsening disease rates and frustrated by the slow take-up of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine by its own population, authorities are introducing stricter measures this week to try to slow the spread of the pandemic.

President Vladimir Putin last week declared that Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 would be paid non-working days but said every region could extend that period or start it earlier depending on the epidemiological situation.

Six regions, including the Samara and Perm regions east of Moscow, began their non-working days on Monday, TASS news agency reported. From this Thursday, Moscow will introduce its tightest lockdown measures since June 2020, with only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies remaining open.

The measures are not popular among some Muscovites who question whether the disruption is justified.

"I'm very sceptical about the lockdown because it hurts businesses first of all," said a man who gave his name as Viktor as he walked in front of the Bolshoi Theatre, wearing a medical mask. "I'm an athlete, and gyms are closing. For people who live and breathe sport, it's really bad."
Moscow schools are also closed, and unvaccinated over-60s in the capital have been ordered to lock down for four months starting Monday.

Authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, said COVID-19 restrictions would not be lifted until at least 80% of its population was vaccinated, RIA news agency reported. Nationwide, only about a third of the population has been inoculated.

Putin has ordered a series of measures including increased testing, tighter monitoring of mask-wearing and social distancing and an acceleration of the vaccine campaign, with employees to get two paid days leave as a reward for getting inoculated.

Authorities reported 37,930 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a daily record, as well as 1,069 deaths related to the virus, six short of the record of 1,075 set on Saturday.