Putin will address the nation again on Tuesday, when he's expected to extend Russia's ‘non-working’ period into mid-May

Sometime after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, Vladimir Putin will make another national address — a “big speech,” says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 

Volgograd regional Governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov says he expects the president to extend Russia’s “non-working” days until at least May 11. Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, has endorsed this initiative, and Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov has already extended self-isolation orders in his region to mid-May, after the end of Russia’s “May holidays.”

This will be Putin’s third national address since the coronavirus pandemic hit Russia. On March 25, the president declared a national “non-working week” from March 30 to April 5, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. On April 2, Putin made another speech, extending the non-working period to April 30.

Across the country, local officials have declared “high alert” conditions, and many areas (such as Moscow and the Moscow region) have imposed limits on individual movement, introducing digital pass systems enforced by the police.

According to data available on the morning of April 28, Russia had confirmed 93,558 cases of COVID-19 and 867 deaths caused by the disease. At least 1,110 patients are known to have recovered from the illness.