Moscow Mayor announces easing of lockdown restrictions beginning June 1

During a video conference with Russia President Vladimir Putin, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that the country’s capital is set to begin easing its lockdown restrictions. 

Sobyanin said that beginning on June 1, businesses working outside of the food industry can resume operations, as well as domestic services that do not require prolonged contact with visitors.

Sobyanin also announced plans to allow Moscow residents to go for walks “in test mode” — according to a schedule that will prevent everyone from going out at once.

In addition, Sobyanin said that as of June 1, hospitals will start a gradual return towards providing routine medical care.

The Moscow Mayor noted that since May 12, more than 1,000 construction sites in the city have resumed work, as well as industrial enterprises.

Over the past two weeks, the number of hospitalizations and new coronavirus diagnoses has decreased, Sobyanin said. The fact that the situation appears to have stabilized and improved is therefore allowing the authorities to discuss lifting restrictions.

Moscow has had lockdown restrictions in place since the end of March, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The city also introduced a digital permit system for residents wishing to leave their homes, as well as a mandatory “glove and mask regime” for people taking public transportation.

On May 27, the head of Rospotrebnadzor’s Moscow department, Elena Andreeva, said that the city was ready for the first and even the second stage of lifting quarantine restrictions.

Moscow has recorded 2,140 new cases of COVID-19 in the past day, bringing the capital’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 171,433. The daily increase in cases has reached a relative minimum since April 24. All total, 2,183 people have died of the disease in Moscow so far, while 67,458 are known to have recovered.