Moscow to review coronavirus lockdown passes over metro crowds

on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very li le death,” he said.

“This would have saved thousands of lives and avoided worldwide economic damage. Instead, the WHO willingly took China’s assurances to face value... and defended the actions of the Chinese government,” he said.

Critics have pointed out that for weeks a er the coronavirus epidemic began unfolding, Trump frequently praised Beijing’s response and downplayed the danger it posed at home. — AFP

MOSCOW: Moscow said Wednesday it will review a new electronic permit system to regulate its coronavirus lockdown a er large crowds formed in metros as police checked passes.

Moscow authorities began issuing digital permits to residents using cars or public transport this week in an effort to reduce isolation violations, with the system coming into effect yesterday.

Following social media reports of crowds gathering in metro stations, Moscow Mayor Sergei

Sobyanin acknowledged on Twi er that ‘ queues formed in the metro’.

He said he asked authorities responsible for checking the passes to ‘ work in such a way that further inspections would not lead to a mass crowd of people’.

In a second tweet, he said the crowds were cleared and that city authorities planned to implement ‘automatic’ controls.

“We’ll think about how to do this,” he wrote.

News agency TASS reported that the congestion was caused by a lack of police to check permits.

Authorities say they have issued at least 3.2 million passes since Monday.

The permit system is being introduced against the backdrop of a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections in Russia, with officials reporting 3,388 new cases yesterday.

Health officials have recorded a total of 24,490 Covid-19 cases and 198 deaths.

Members of the armed services, municipal officials and journalists are among those exempt from the permit system.

Work passes will be valid until April 30, while passes obtained to go to a doctor or elsewhere can only be used once.

The digital permit system may be expanded to monitor people going out on foot even within their neighbourhood, if needed, authorities have said.

Moscow has been under lockdown since March 30, but is now struggling to cope with the influx of new cases and officials said that clinics were approaching their limits. — AFP