Dogs can be walked, children cannot – Azerbaijan’s second “Sunday lockdown”

Azerbaijan is testing out its second “weekend lockdown” from June 14-15, during which residents of large cities are completely forbidden to leave their houses, all shops and pharmacies are closed, and public transport has been suspended.

People can only leave home to walk a dog or if they have special permission. 

• Law and coronavirus: the legality of Azerbaijan’s quarantine
• Azerbaijan: woman dies before receiving medical assistance 15 hours after calling ambulance

In this way, the authorities are trying to contain the spread of the coronavirus. This method was used for the first time in the country last weekend, June 6-7. 

The result of the experiment turned out to be rather negative: the number of new infections did not decrease (about 300 cases daily), but the degree of discontent in society almost reached a critical point.  However, the authorities decided to repeat the “Sunday lockdown”. This time everything has been calmer.

According to official data, on June 14, a total of 9957 cases of COVID-19 infection have been recorded in Azerbaijan. 119 people have died, 5583 have already been cured, 4255 people continue to be treated.  The quarantine regime in the country was extended until July 1.

The current “Sunday lockdown” turned out to be not entirely Sunday: it covers Sunday and Monday, because June 15 is the Day of National Salvation in Azerbaijan. This is an official state holiday associated with the return to power of the former president of Azerbaijan (and the father of the current president) Heydar Aliyev in 1993.

Taught by the experience of the past lockdown, many residents of Baku decided to “escape” to their countryside homes or the provinces in advance so as not to be locked up at home.

 People are unhappy that they cannot throw out the garbage and have to store it for two days in a sweltering heat of forty degrees.

And the parents of young children consider it too cruel not to let them go outside in the summer.

 However, overall the situation is less tense than last time. There are no serious clashes with the police, although in the last lockdown, the case took a very serious turn and came to mass detentions.

Judging by social networks, people perceive the two-day “imprisonment” simply as an inevitable evil, and do not believe that this can stop the growth in the number of infections. At a minimum, because the remaining five days a week everything remains the same, including crowded transport and non-observance of social distancing.