Putin eases lockdown as Russia’s virus cases surge

Vadimir Putin told Russia to go back to work today, a day after posting the world’s highest daily growth in new coronavirus cases, second only to the United States.

After six weeks of nationwide lockdown, Russia yesterday counted a record-high of 11,656 new coronavirus cases.

President Putin, in his address to the nation, lauded Russian officials for taking on Covid-19 early and said that it was time to end what he called ‘‘non-working weeks’’. ‘‘We cannot be guided by a single blueprint because certain actions in some regions could create unnecessary risks to citizens while in other regions they could lead to pointless restrictions on people and businesses,’’ Putin said, leaving it up to the regional governors to decide when and how to begin to ease the restrictions.

Anxious to avoid being associated with bad news, Putin has largely taken a back seat in dealing with the outbreak.

Putin’s optimistic statements yesterday about hospital capacity and tests sounded all the more confusing as Sergei Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor, insists that the Russian capital is nowhere near the peak in infections. Moscow last week extended the city lockdown at least until the end of the month.

Questions have been raised about a lack of transparency about the epidemic after several regions began to post abnormally even numbers of new cases.

Putin’s surprise announcement was largely seen as a sign that he is washing his hands of the epidemic’s devastating effect on the economy, making the regional leaders ultimately responsible for the fallout. – Telegraph Group

AP Grave diggers wearing personal protective suits carry a coffin while burying a Covid-19 victim in the special purpose for coronavirus victims section of a cemetery in Kolpino, outside St Petersburg.