Moscow, coronavirus: ‘the genocide of one’s own people’ – doctors assess gov’t actions
An ill-conceived access system in Moscow caused crowds of hundreds of people at the entrances to the metro. Numerous crowds of people are expected in and around churches for Easter.
All this together can lead to a new outbreak of coronavirus in Russia in 10-14 days.
Source – Radio Liberty
In one day, 4,785 people got coronavirus in Russia. In total, as of April 18, 36,793 people were infected. 313 of them died.
Access system that forced people to gather in crowds
Moscow authorities on April 14 announced the tightening of measures to combat coronavirus. One of them was the introduction of a throughput system in the Russian capital.
All those who move around the city should get passes – for work, to the doctor, to visit elderly relatives (people over 65 are not allowed to leave their homes).
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In total, about 2 million passes were issued in Moscow. And then they arranged their check.
At all entrances to the city and at metro stations, police patrols were put up to check the passes and passports.
As a result, many hours of traffic jams formed at the entrance to Moscow. At the metro stations, huge crowds gathered in which people could not physically observe at least some distance from each other.
Social networks were filled with photos and videos of traffic jams on roads and metro stations clogged with people.
At the same time, the people who tried to move around the city that day were the most needed people — doctors, delivery couriers, and community service workers.
Faced with an explosion of indignation, authorities soon canceled the checks, but the damage has already been done irrevocably.
“Two weeks of quarantine were pointless”
David Matevosov, candidate of medical sciences, leading specialist of the largest medical company Medsi, evaluated the incident in Moscow in an interview with Radio Liberty:
“This is egregious, this is horror, this is hell and genocide of one’s own people, I don’t know what words to use. Almost two and a half weeks of quarantine – down the drain. We now completely leveled everything that we did in 2.5 weeks. They leveled out of their own stupidity.
“All the work of doctors, all the work of educating people, all these calls “stay home”, everything was crossed out with one stroke of the pen and clumsy methods of the authorities. “
Forecast: the next danger is Easter
On a countrywide scale, experts also fear crowding at Easter. In Moscow, services will be held without flock, but will be opened in more than half of Russian regions.
The Moscow Patriarchate could not come to a decision on this issue and left the regional dioceses to decide for themselves. And secular authorities did not consider it necessary to intervene.
This may lead to the fact that in early May – after the end of the incubation period – the epidemic will intensify throughout the country.
Experts believe that in 7-14 days in Russia we should expect a new outbreak.
