Regions across Russia are starting to require people to wear masks in public settings

Several regions across Russia are beginning to require people to wear medical masks when in public places, such as in stores and when riding public transportation. 

In Novosibirsk, for example, the governor’s executive orders on containment measures against the spread of coronavirus now include recommendations about wearing masks at work, in stores, and aboard public transportation. In the Sverdlovsk region, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev told presidential envoy Nikolai Tsukanov that he plans to start fining people who fail to wear masks in public places after May 1.

Beginning on April 27, wearing medical masks in public became mandatory in the Vladimir region, Sevastopol, and parts of Yakutia (including the republic’s capital, Yakutsk). This same measure was introduced earlier in the Kemerovo region (on April 19), the Khabarovsk Territory (April 22), in Kamchatka and the Ivanovo region (April 24), and in Bashkiria (on April 25).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings “where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.” Russia’s Health Ministry says workers who regularly interact with large numbers of people (such as cashiers and civil servants) should wear masks.