The mayor of Moscow ordered all residents of the city to stay home, except for essential outings, as the city confirmed more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19.
Residents can only leave their homes for emergency medical help, trips to work for those who are required to continue working, visits to the nearest grocery store and pharmacy, dog walks within 300 feet of a building, and throwing out trash.
Sobyanin noted that some of the residents haven’t been abiding by previous orders. Moscow authorities are working on a system which would require people to carry special passes to travel in the city. Officials are also working on a “smart control system” to monitor movements in the city, according to the mayor.
The lockdown order doesn’t prohibit anyone from entering or leaving the city.
The mayor also asked residents and essential business to abide by social distancing measures, with taxis being the only exceptions.
Prior orders from federal and local authorities reduced the density in the city by a third, according to Sobyanin.
“This is very good. But obviously, not everyone got the message,” Sobyanin said. “Nevertheless, the extremely negative turn of events that we see in the largest cities in Europe and the USA causes great concern for the life and health of our citizens.”
While Russian President Vladimir Putin last week asked Russians to stay home for a week beginning on March 30, he stopped short of ordering any lockdowns, leaving it to local officials to enact measures. In the northwest region of Karelia, public transport has been shut down. In the city of Ivanovo, police are questioning locals who are outside about their destinations.
Russia reported 302 new cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, on March 30 for a total of 1,836; nine people died of COVID-19 in the country. Moscow is at the epicenter of the outbreak with more than two-thirds of the nation’s cases confirmed in the capital. The city reported 212 new CCP virus cases on March 30.
