Crisis under control, claims Putin as new cases hit record
Our Foreign Staff
VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russia’s president, insisted yesterday that the authorities had the coronavirus crisis under full control and that everything would work out with God’s help, even as the country registered a record daily rise in Covid-19 cases.
Russia yesterday reported 6,060 new cases in the previous 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 42,853, though the official death toll of 361 remains relatively low.
In a video message to Christians on the Orthodox Easter, Mr Putin said the religious festival would strengthen Russians’ hope and faith because the resurrection of Christ was a symbol of rebirth and a reminder that life goes on. The Russian leader, who looked relaxed as he sat in front of a fireplace at his out of town Moscow residence, said his country had all the necessary resources to do what was needed for people’s health and the economy.
“All levels of power are working in an organised, responsible and timely way,” said Mr Putin, who was flanked by painted Easter eggs, a traditional Orthodox kulich sweet bread, and a big pot of tea. “The situation is under full control. All of our society is united in front of the common threat.” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying there was hope that signs might start appearing next week that cases might begin to plateau.
Coronavirus infections in Russia began rising sharply in April after Moscow reported far fewer infections than many western European countries.
Some Russian doctors questioned the veracity of those early statistics given what they said was the low quality and scale of testing, although Russian authorities say they have carried out 1.94million tests as of yesterday.
Russia’s virus epicentre is in Moscow, where 24,324 cases had been recorded and 176 people had died as of yesterday. Private testing results, seen by Reuters, among people without symptoms suggest the virus has penetrated more deeply into Moscow’s population than the official data show, however.